US tech shares sell off as global markets digest tax cut advance
US stocks finished mixed Monday with high-flying technology shares experiencing profit taking as global markets digested the Senate's passage of a massive tax cut plan. The Senate's 51-49 passage of the Republican tax measure late Friday night sets the stage for President Donald Trump to sign into law Wall Street's biggest priority in time for Christmas. US stocks appeared braced for another banner session, opening sharply higher in the aftermath of the Senate's action. But technology shares later sold off, pushing the S&P 500 and Nasdaq into the red. The Dow still mustered a modest record, climbing 0.2 percent to 24,290.05. "It's a little bit of a rotation today again, out of some of the high flying momentum names," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities. Investors in Europe were cheered the prospect of higher corporate profits in the US, and progress on the bill also boosted the dollar at the euro's expense, helping export-oriented stocks. The DAX 30 in Frankfurt jumped 1.5 percent and the CAC 40 in Paris climbed 1.4 percent. A strong pound limited the gains to London's FTSE 100 to 0.5 percent. The pound gained against the dollar for much of the day as British Prime Minister Theresa May appeared to be closing in on sealing a deal on divorce terms with EU chiefs and making progress towards resolving the thorny issue of the Irish border. But it fell back after European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the sides did not reach "complete agreement." The greenback strengthened against the yen and the euro, though dealers remain reticent as both houses of Congress must reconcile their differing bills before sending a final draft to the White House, while analysts also warned of political risk. "If the legislation gets ratified quickly, there would likely be another dollar bounce, but the longer this drags out, the dollar will probably sell off as political uncertainty has been the greenback's undoing over and over again in 2017," said Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trading at OANDA. Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management said, "Investors are still worried that tax reform will be a drawn out process -- reconciliation of the House and Senate bills is the next step and while there are vast differences, leaders of both houses are highly motivated to get a deal done. "So we believe it is only be a matter of time before a final proposal is agreed upon and passed to the White House for President Trump's signature." - Key figures around 2200 GMT - New York - DOW: UP 0.2 percent at 24,290.05 (close) New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.1 percent at 2,639.44 (close) New York - Nasdaq: DOWN 1.1 percent at 6,775.37 (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 7,338.97 points (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 1.5 percent at 13,058.55 (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.4 percent at 5,389.29 (close) EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.3 percent at 3,573.89 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.5 percent at 22,707.16 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.2 percent at 29,138.28 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,309.62 (close) Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1865 from $1.1899 at 2200 GMT Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3470 from $1.3477 Dollar/yen: UP at 112.41 yen from 112.12 yen Oil - Brent North Sea: DOWN $1.28 at $62.45 per barrel Oil - West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 89 cents at $57.47 per barrel burs-jmb/hs
