Wall Street retreats on worries over delays in tax-cut plan

By Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) - The S&P and the Nasdaq were on track to post their biggest one-day percentage losses in about two weeks as doubts on whether Republican would be a able to pulloff their promised tax-cut plan weighed on the markets.

A U.S. Senate tax-cut bill, different from one already in the House of Representatives, was expected to be unveiled on Thursday, complicating the tax overhaul push by the Trump administration.

The S&P 500 has risen about 21 percent since the election of President Donald Trump a year ago, partly on the back of his promises to cut taxes and other business-friendly measures.

However, Republicans are yet to score a major legislative win since Trump took office in January, even though the party controls both chambers of Congress as well as the White House.

"There is continuing confusion over the possibility of tax cuts being meaningful and passing this year," said James Abate, chief investment officer at Centre Asset Management.

"At the end of the day some version will get passed but it will be watered down. There is too much resistance from special interest groups and budget hawks and there is a fear that the tax cuts will be in name only."

With earnings winding down and stocks still trading near record levels, investors are also looking to book profits, Abate said.

At 11:04 a.m. ET (1504 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 83.82 points, or 0.36 percent, at 23,479.54, the S&P 500 was down 9.07 points, or 0.34 percent, at 2,585.31.

The Nasdaq Composite was down 33.54 points, or 0.49 percent, at 6,755.58.

Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, with the technology index's 0.84 percent loss leading the decliners.

Technology has been the best performing S&P sector so far this year with a 37 percent rise, despite concerns of stretched valuations.

Ebay's 4.1 percent fall weighed the most on the Nasdaq, while Microsoft's 0.8 percent pulled the S&P lower.

Roku soared 35.4 percent after the television streaming device maker's quarterly results and guidance beat expectations.

Kohl's was down 3.8 percent after the department store operator's quarterly profit missed estimates, while its upmarket rival Macy's rose 6.6 percent after its profit came in above expectations.

Dish Network rose 5.1 percent after the satellite and internet TV provider added subscribers in the United States in the third quarter and reduced the rate at which it lost existing customers.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,624 to 1,137. On the Nasdaq, 1,511 issues fell and 1,227 advanced.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Arun Koyyur)