Dow slides 321 points | Biden’s capital gains tax proposal | Jobless claims fall again

THU, APR 22, 2021

EVENING BRIEF

AS OF THU, APR 22, 2021 • 04:42 ET

DJIA		33815.90
		-0.94%	-321.41

S&P 500		4134.98
		-0.92%	-38.44

NASDAQ		13818.41
		-0.94%	-131.80

Most Active

DOW
NAME	LAST	CHG	%CHG
AAPL	131.94	-1.56	-1.17%
INTC	62.57	-1.13	-1.77%
MSFT	257.17	-3.41	-1.31%

S&P 500
NAME	LAST	CHG	%CHG
T	31.36	+1.25	+4.15%
AAPL	131.94	-1.56	-1.17%
F	11.94	+0.21	+1.79%

NASDAQ
NAME	LAST	CHG	%CHG
AAPL	131.94	-1.56	-1.17%
AMD	79.06	-2.55	-3.12%
INTC	62.57	-1.13	-1.77%

EDITOR'S NOTE

Stocks slumped on Thursday afternoon, amid reports that President Joe Biden will propose raising capital gains taxes on millionaires, boosting the levy from 20% to 39.6%.

The plan would reportedly keep the 3.8% net investment income tax intact, bringing the hike as high as 43.4%, according to Bloomberg News.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both fell about 0.9%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up approximately 321 points, closing at 33,815.90.

The decline was precipitous and rapid.

The news shouldn't have been a surprise to investors, said Ed Mills, a Washington policy analyst at Raymond James. He spoke on CNBC's "Closing Bell on Thursday.

"He has been saying for weeks that there is going to be a social infrastructure bill coming that is going to include increase in taxes on the top income households, the $1 million mark is there," Mills said.

There was a silver lining to the sell-off, though. The pricy stocks investors have long coveted — and that are beloved by Wall Street analysts — were finally available at a bargain.

Strategists warned investors from jumping to any conclusions about what Biden's proposal may look like in its final form.

Don't forget that there's a 50-50 split between the parties in the Senate, and the plan could change significantly as negotiations progress.

"If I want to get something done, the first thing I'm going to do is come with a really extreme request and then I'm going to negotiate back from that," Doug Sandler, head of global strategy at RiverFront Investment Group, said Thursday on CNBC's "Power Lunch."

"That's just the way politics work," he said.