New York: Wall Street stocks jumped back into record territory early on Monday following Senate passage of the massive and long-awaited 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.
The stock gains are based on the expectation that cutting the corporate tax rate to 20 per cent from 35 per cent should juice profits, justifying higher valuations.
About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 24,481.09, up 1.0 per cent.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.9 per cent to 2,664.55, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.7 per cent to 6,897.42.
Sectors with larger gains included consumer discretionary, financial and industrial stocks.
Insurer Aetna rose 1.7 per cent after agreeing to be acquired by drugstore chain CVS Health for $69 billion (Dh253 billion) in a move that would broaden the pharmacy’s traditional functions to include clinics and more nuts-and-bolts health services. CVS fell 4.0 per cent.
Insurers Cigna and Humana both climbed about one per cent amid talk that they also could be acquired in similarly structured transactions.
Twenty-First Century Fox rose 2.7 per cent following reports it has resumed talks to sell some entertainment assets to Disney. Disney gained 2.4 per cent.
