The US markets closed lower on Wednesday, with the Dow and S&P 500 retreating from record levels for a second session, as congressional Republicans sent tax-cut legislation to President Donald Trump for his signature. The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives gave final approval to the biggest overhaul of the US tax code in 30 years, sending a sweeping $1.5 trillion tax bill to President Donald Trump for his signature. In sealing Trump’s first major legislative victory, Republicans steamrolled opposition from Democrats to pass a bill that slashes taxes for corporations and the wealthy while giving mixed, temporary tax relief to middle-class Americans. The House approved the measure by 224-201, passing it for the second time in two days after a procedural foul-up forced another vote. The Republican-led Senate had passed it 51-48 in the early hours of Wednesday.
On the economy front, existing-home sales rose to a 5.81 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in November. Sales of previously-owned homes surged 5.6% to an annual 5.81 million pace in November, the third month of increases and the strongest since December 2006. Sales were 3.8% higher compared to November a year ago. Despite the big jump, the housing market is still plagued by a chronic supply crunch. Unsold inventory would take 3.4 months to sell at the current pace, well below the 5-6 months worth of supply that normally signals a balanced market. What’s more, properties stayed on the market for an average of 40 days in November, which is longer than the 34-day average in October. Hot demand for lean supply pushed the median price to $248,000, a 5.8% annual increase.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 28.1 points or 0.11 percent to 24,726.65, the Nasdaq dropped 2.892 points or 0.04 percent to 6,960.96, and the S&P 500 edged lower by 2.22 points or 0.08 percent to 2,679.25.