Stocks are mixed on tax proposals and Powell appointment at Fed

U.S. stocks finished mixed on Thursday as investors pored over House Republican’s tax proposals and President Donald Trump picked Fed Governor Jerome “Jay” Powell to lead the Federal Reserve.

The House tax plan would cut the top corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent. That helped smaller, more U.S.-focused companies, because they generally pay higher tax rates than larger firms that do a lot of business in other countries.

Home improvement retailers and homebuilders slumped because the bill would reduce the amount of interest Americans can deduct on new mortgages. That could hurt home sales, particularly in high-cost areas.

The GOP tax plan was mostly what investors expected, said Mona Mahajan, U.S. investment strategist for Allianz Global Investors. She noted that the bill would immediately lower the corporate tax rate instead of reducing it over time, an idea some Republicans had proposed earlier.

“That alone is a win for corporations becoming more competitive with global peers, especially the small cap and domestic companies,” she said.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.49 points to 2,579.85. The Dow Jones industrial average added 81.25 points, or 0.3 percent, to a record 23,516.26. The Nasdaq composite sank 1.59 points to 6,714.94. — AP