While you were sleeping: Tax plan progress lifts Dow

Wall Street rose, with the Dow and the S&P 500 both touching fresh record highs as optimism about the Republican tax reform plan bolstered bank shares at the expense of technology stocks.

But prices faded later in the session. At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 58.46 points, or 0.2%, to 24,290.05. However, the Nasdaq Composite Index skidded 1.05% to 6775.37 tech stocks crashed. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was steady, feasing 0.1% to 2639.44.

Earlier, the Dow climbed to a record 24,534 while the S&P 500 touched a record 2665.

"Financials should benefit from not only tax reform but as we start to see rates move higher, their interest margins become more profitable," Emily Roland, head of investment research at John Hancock Investments in Boston, told Reuters.

"We're seeing some rotation away from technology stocks, which is likely due for a breather, into financial stocks and we expect to see that continue."

The Dow rose as gains in Walt Disney and Boeing, up 4.9% and 2.7% respectively, outweighed declines by Microsoft and Visa, down 2.8% and 2.7* respectively.

Disney up on fresh Fox move
Walt Disney shares rose after the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation, that the company has re-engaged in discussions with 21st Century Fox to purchase some of the media giant's assets. Meanwhile, Comcast remains in the mix, with deal talks gaining momentum.

In the latest corporate deals, CVS Health agreed to buy Aetna in a deal valued at about $US69 billion, the companies said on Sunday.

"We are obviously going to get some scrutiny," Aetna chief executive officer Mark Bertolini said, according to Bloomberg. "We are prepared to deal with whatever comes along to make this work."

Investors aren't so sure. Shares of Aetna slipped 0.6% to $US180.19, while those of CVS traded 4.9% weaker.

The assumption is that next year's CVS earnings will be less than Wall Street currently foresees, Gabelli Funds portfolio manager Jeff Jonas told Reuters.

Strategically, Jonas noted, the deal has growth opportunities in its long-term plan to drive customers into CVS' MinuteClinics and offer more health services there.

"Financially, though, it's really a stretch," he says.

Brexit talks fail
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index was 0.9% lower. Germany's DAX Index rallied 1.5%, France's CAC 40 Index gained 1.4% and the UK's FTSE 100 Index rose 0.5%.

In Brexit news, UK Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker failed to reach a deal in Brussels on Monday.

"It was not possible to reach a complete agreement today," Mr Juncker told reporters, according to Bloomberg, adding that talks would resume this week.

He was confident there would be an agreement that paved the way for trade talks to begin.

(BusinessDesk)