Dow Falls as Biden Reportedly Mulls Tax Hike on Rich
Investing.com
Published Apr 22, 2021 01:34PM ET
Updated Apr 22, 2021 03:22PM ET
By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – The Dow fell Thursday as investors weighed up the latest round of corporate earnings and reports that President Biden is considering a major capital gains tax hike on the rich.
Biden is reportedly contemplating almost doubling the capital gains tax hike up to 39.6% to fund child care and education proposals included in his so-called American Family Plan.
The news rattled investor sentiment and dragged stocks further into the red, overshadowing another wave corporate earnings.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) fell 1% after it estimated that it could achieve break-even by June, underpinned by strong leisure travel bookings into the summer months. The upbeat guidance offset mixed quarterly results as revenue fell short of estimates.
Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) slipped 3% as Wall Street sounded a cautious note on the company following its first-quarter results that missed on the bottom line.
Equifax (NYSE:EFX) reported first-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates, sending its share price more than 15% higher.
The wave of mostly bullish corporate earnings come in the wake of a surge in cases globally that has cooled expectations over a faster reopening. India reported a record one-day surge in cases on Thursday.
In the U.S., however, Covid-19 cases continue to trend lower, with President Joe Biden confirming the country has achieved its 200 million vaccines milestone.
Improving economic data, particularly in the labor market, continues to reflect the success of the vaccine rollout that has led to a further reopening of the economy.
In the week ended April 17, 547,000 people filed for unemployment insurance, down 39,000 from the prior week's upwardly revised 586,000 and confounding economists' estimates for 610,000.
Energy stocks were sluggish despite oil prices recovering some losses as hopes for a recovery in demand remain fragile amid rising global infections.
Big tech, traded mix ahead of key earnings for the sector, with Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) due to report quarterly results after the closing bell.
Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) were in the red.
In other news, Citigroup (NYSE:C)'s sale of its retail businesses could reportedly bring in as much as $6 billion.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Investing.com
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.