Stocks drift awaiting Trump tax plan details

Wall Street and the major European indices drifted higher on Monday in advance of a major address by President Donald Trump, as investors in New York sent the Dow to a fresh record. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average crept up to close at a 12th consecutive all-time high after a session in which Wall Street's three major indices wavered around. In New York, the Nasdaq and the Dow both finished a touch higher, as did London and Frankfurt, while the broad S&P 500 and the CAC 40 in Paris were flat. Investors have rejoiced in Trump's promises of new tax cuts, even thought details have yet to materialize. However, Trump hinted he would make a "big" announcement on infrastructure policy during an address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. Shares in Caterpillar, which manufactures construction equipment, rose two percent on the news, helping the Dow to its positive finish. Peter Cardillo of First Standard Financial said enthusiasm about Trump's tax policies was still high among investors and economic data released early in the day had not swayed market players. - When will it stop? - "It's a market that's been driven by the prospect of Trump economics and it's hard to pinpoint when that will stop," Cardillo told AFP. "So far that hasn't happened because every time the market tries to pause, investors are ready to come back in." Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said Trump's speech "will be watched very closely for some real insight into his plans for taxes and possibly fiscal stimulus which would help to sustain the rally for now." "I wonder if we're getting to a point at which he's at risk of not being able to meet the now high expectations," Erlam said. Shares in market operators London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Boerse both fell after the LSE said it would not meet an EU antitrust demand to get clearance for a merger between the companies. This means the deal appears to be "dead in the water," a source close to the matter told AFP. The announcement by LSE, which also operates the Milan stock exchange, is the latest twist in its longstanding attempt to merge with the German stock exchange operator. The LSE said it had examined the European Commission's request to divest its majority stake in Italian trading unit MTS, concluding it could not comply with such a request. - Key figures around 2200 GMT - New York - Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 20,843.19 (close) New York - S&P 500: FLAT at 2,369.25 (close) New York - Nasdaq: UP 0.2 percent at 5,858.01 (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 7,253.00 points (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.2 percent at 11,822.67 (close) Paris - CAC 40: FLAT at 4,845.18 (close) EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.2 percent at 3,309.30 (close) Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9 percent at 19,107.47 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 0.2 percent at 23,925.05 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.8 percent at 3,228.66 (close) Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0587 from $1.0561 Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2440 from $1.2463 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 112.70 yen from 112.13 yen Oil - Brent North Sea: DOWN 6 cents at $55.93 per barrel Oil - West Texas Intermediate: UP 6 cents at $54.05 burs-dg/hs