U.S. major stock indices opened lower.
As of 10:02 a.m. Eastern Time on the 21st, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 283.13 points (0.66%) at 42,394.11 on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index dropped 21.79 points (0.37%) to 5,918.67, while the Nasdaq index fell 40.25 points (0.21%) to 19,102.47.
Investors noted that concerns over the worsening fiscal deficit related to President Donald Trump's pressure on the Republican Party to push through the tax cut bill have affected the market. The rise in U.S. Treasury bond yields is a result of concerns over the fiscal deficit. The yield on 10-year Government Bonds was 4.5%, and the 30-year yield surpassed 5% again.
President Trump is pushing for a large-scale tax cut known as the "Mega Bill." The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and credit rating agencies expect that this bill will reduce U.S. tax revenues by $3 trillion to $4 trillion. If the fiscal deficit is covered by Government Bonds, the amount of bonds released into the market will increase, causing Treasury yields, particularly on long-term bonds, to rise.