Wall Street today: US stocks edge lower as investors focus on Trump's tax bill

Wall Street’s key indices edged lower on Wednesday amid concerns over US President Donald Trump's tax-cut bill.

Investor sentiments were also impacted after some of the top retailers reported mixed forecasts amid the uncertainty caused by US President Donald Trump’s tariff policy

At 2:01 PM EDT, the S&P 500 was down 1.14%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.57%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.86%.

As of 10:10 AM Eastern time, the S&P 500 was down 0.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.2%.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 322.8 points, or 0.76%, to 42,354.46. The S&P 500 fell 30.3 points, or 0.51%, to 5,910.18, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 139.8 points, or 0.73%, to 19,002.942.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury gained to 4.52% from 4.48% late on Tuesday.

Gainers and Losers

Retailer Target’s stock slumped 5.8% after the company posted weaker profit and revenue.

Lowe’s shares fell 0.5% despite the company reporting a quarterly profit above Wall Street expectations.

Carter's stock sank 12.3% after the apparel retailer cut its dividend.

Keysight Technologies shares rose 5.7% after the software company’s earnings topped analysts' expectations.

UnitedHealth Group stock shed 5.1% as a Guardian report said the healthcare giant secretly paid nursing homes thousands in bonuses to help reduce hospital transfers for ailing residents.

Amazon shares dropped 1.5%.

Wolfspeed stock tumbled 66.5% after a report said the semiconductor supplier was planning to file for bankruptcy within weeks.

Bullion

Gold prices gained for a third straight day on Wednesday, helped by a weaker US dollar.

Spot gold rose 0.5% at $3,304.17 an ounce, as of 1024 ET (1424 GMT). US gold futures added 0.7% to $3,307.00.

Silver rose 0.5% to $33.23 an ounce. Palladium added 1.8% to $1,031.70. Platinum was up 1.9% at $1,073.28.

Crude oil

Oil prices pared gains on Wednesday, with Brent briefly turning negative after EIA data showed surprise rise in US crude stockpiles.