US stocks decline on Trump policy uncertainty

 U.S. stocks slid for the week as investors worried about U.S. President Donald Trump's ability to implement his economic policies.

On Monday, U.S. stocks closed mixed after wavering between small gains and losses as Wall Street digested remarks from several U.S. Federal Reserve officials.

On Tuesday, U.S. stocks reversed early gains to end sharply lower, amid growing concerns over President Trump's ability to implement his economic policies.

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks closed mixed Wednesday, a day after equities posted their worst day of the year, as investors digest economic data and corporate earnings.

On Thursday, U.S. stocks ended lower Thursday as House Republican leaders delayed a key vote on the American Health Care Act (AHCA).

On Friday, U.S. stocks closed mixed, with the Dow logging a seven-day losing streak, as the House pulled a key health-care bill ahead of a vote.

The AHCA vote was in spotlight for the week. House Republicans on Friday pulled their health-care bill, which was originally set for Thursday, as they failed to corral enough support for it, throwing the future of one of their top legislative priorities into serious doubt, according to media reports.

The House vote is crucial for President Trump's agenda. Trump has said the repeal and replacement of Obamacare must happen before action can be taken on his other plans, including a major tax reduction.

Analysts said there appear to be growing concerns that Trump's tax reform, infrastructure spending and deregulation may take longer to pass than initially thought.

Remarks from several U.S. Federal Reserve officials were also in focus, after the U.S. central bank last week raised interest rates for the third time since the 2008 global financial crisis.

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said Monday that he voted against a rate hike last week because he wanted to see more inflation in the U.S.

Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said that it's ok if inflation overshoots the Fed's inflation target as the labor market tightens.

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said that the central bank will wait until June to decide on the next rate hike.

On the economic front, U.S. new orders for manufactured durable goods in February increased 3.9 billion U.S. dollars or 1.7 percent to 235.4 billion dollars, above market estimates.

Adjusted for seasonal influences, the Markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing PMI for March decreased to 53.4, hitting a 5-month low, from 54.2 in February.

In the week ending March 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 258,000, an increase of 15,000 from the previous week's revised level.

U.S. sales of new single-family houses in February 2017 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 592,000, beating market consensus.

U.S. total existing-home sales retreated 3.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.48 million in February from 5.69 million in January.

For the week, all three major indices suffered big losses, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq tumbling 1.5 percent, 1.4 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

source: Xinhua