(MENAFN- Gulf Times) A rebound in sentiment after US President Donald Trump unveiled market-friendly tax cut plans proved short-lived as stocks traded mixed yesterday.
The Dow edged out meagre gains by late morning trading, but the broader S & P 500 was flat and the tech-heavy Nasdaq down.
In Europe, equities advanced modestly, while Asian indices struggled to track Wall Street's Wednesday gains, despite a broad move back to riskier assets like equities.
London's FTSE 100 closed 0.1% up at 7,322.82 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 ended 0.4% up at 12,704.65 points, Paris' CAC 40 finished trading 0.2% up at 5,293.77 points, while the EURO STOXX 50 closed 0.2% up at 3,561.29 points.
'US stocks are lower in early action, coming off the modest rebound yesterday, with the markets grappling with increased Fed rate hike expectations and scrutiny of yesterday's release of tax reform details, said analysts at Charles Schwab stock brokerage.
After months of waiting, Trump released a tax reform blueprint that would slash corporate rates, provide relief for firms that repatriate cash from overseas, and reduce the number of tax brackets from seven to three.
The tycoon described it as 'the largest tax cut, essentially, in the history of our country.
Trump's promise to reduce taxes, ramp up infrastructure spending and slash red tape helped drive a global market rally in the months after his November election win.
But those gains fizzled as his legislative agenda suffered a series of blows and his White House has become embroiled in a host of crises.
The bill is expected to face a tough passage through Congress, with both sides of the aisle likely to question its affordability, while it received a mixed review from economists, and business and union leaders.
'Though Trump's tax announcement was an important first step in terms of the President delivering on one of his most market-pleasing policies, the abject failure of the Republican attempt to repeal Obamacare means that investors are wise to be cautious about getting too excited at this early stage, said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.
The lower trend on Wall Street came despite the Commerce Department revising up its estimate for growth by the US economy by a tenth of a percentage to 3.1% in the April-June period on an annualised basis. New US claims for jobless benefits jumped in late September, as expected, in the aftermath of hurricanes Harvey and Irma, rising by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 272,000.
In European trading, shares in Ryanair fell nearly 4% in Dublin as investors came to grips with the low-cost airline cancelling the flights of another 400,000 passengers due to scheduling problems with its pilots.
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