Dow snaps 4-day losing streak; tax-cut hopes provide lift the Market

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, with the Dow industrials ending a four-day losing streak and the small-cap Russell 2000 notching a record close as President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans touted a sweeping tax overhaul.

What did the main equity benchmarks do?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.03% rose 56.39 points, or 0.3%, to end at 22,340.71, erasing an earlier loss. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.25% rose 10.2 points, or 0.4%, to close at 2,507.04, less than 0.1% from a record close set last week. The index hit an all-time intraday high of 2,511.75 during the session.

The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.53% rose 73.10 points, or 1.2%, to 6,453.26.

What’s driving the market?

Stock Market traders are trying to find their footing after a week marked by hawkish comments from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen and the long-awaited announcement on tax reform from President Donald Trump’s administration.

The Dow extended its gain after the House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative GOP lawmakers, endorsed the Trump tax reform plan outlined on Wednesday. The plan includes softer tax treatment for American companies to bring back profits they have held abroad, a process known as repatriation that is boosting shares of companies like Apple and Microsoft.

The Nasdaq composite outperformed, closing up more than 1 percent in its best day since Aug. 22. The three major indexes closed within half a percent of their all-time highs.

Symbol	Name	Price	Change	%Change
DJIA	Dow Industrials	22372.86	-8.34	-0.04%
S&P 500	S&P 500 Index	2516.77	6.71	0.27%
NASDAQ	NASDAQ Composite	6487.45	34.00	0.53%

The GOP framework on tax reform released Wednesday would reduce the corporate tax rate to 20 percent, as many expected. It also proposes to create just three individual tax rates and double the standard deduction.