London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Sep 20, 2026

Stocks sink on worries over higher taxes

Stocks sink on worries over higher taxes

US stocks tumbled Thursday over investors' worries about higher taxes.

All three major indexes closed deep in the red. The Dow (INDU) fell 0.9%, or 321 points. The broader S&P 500 (SPX) and the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) also fell 0.9%.

It's not surprising that Wall Street doesn't like higher taxes, particularly when it comes to capital gains — the levy investors pay on realized profits after selling a stock, for example.

The Biden administration wants to raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for the pandemic recovery. It has proposed to hike capital gains taxes for those earning more than $1 million annually to 39.6%. Coupled with additional levy on high income earnings to fund the Affordable Care Act, the top rate would be even higher. This much was already known in March.

But some Thursday reports, including from Bloomberg, where many traders get their news, put the capital gains worries front and center for investors again. And in response, stocks tumbled.

"This does not seem like particularly new information," said Michael Reinking, senior market strategist at the New York Stock Exchange, in a note.

To be fair to the worried investors, the proposed rates look very different from the current ones, with a top federal capital gains tax of only 20%. Individuals earning $200,000 a year and married couples making $250,000 a year also pay an additional 3.8% tax on their capital gains to help fund Obamacare.

Wall Street is not impressed and the shock from these numbers is hard for investors to shake off, said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note to clients.

"The biggest risks to the stock market are the Fed's taper tantrum and aggressive tax hikes," he said.

That said, this is only a proposal and the final product might look very different. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday that details of the American Families Plan will be outlined next week during President Joe Biden's address to Congress, but she would not confirm tax increase details in the plan.

Stocks remain near record highs, so these market wobbles could be a good excuse for investors to sell shares and bank some profits, Moya added.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
British Museum Faces Questions Over Peter Thiel’s Private Bayeux Tapestry Viewing
Earl Spencer Memoir Excerpts Renew Public Debate Over Diana’s Death
Liberal Democrats Gather in Brighton for Autumn Conference
Mothercare Shares Plunge as Middle East Store Closures Threaten Long-Term Solvency
Kent Police Treat Folkestone Hotel Fire as Suspicious
Caribbean Governments Advance Reparations Campaign Seeking Engagement With Britain
Scottish Labour Leader Backs Rosebank and Jackdaw North Sea Projects
FCA Urges Young Adults to Trace £1.5 Billion in Unclaimed Child Trust Funds
UK Competition Regulator Opens Inquiry Into McCormick-Unilever Foods Deal
Public Inquiry Into Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys Mental Health Failings Set to Begin
Nigel Farage Looks to US Immigration Enforcement Model for UK Border Policy
Chiltern Railways Moves Into Public Ownership
Security Review Raises Concerns Over Sensitive UK Police Data Stored on Microsoft Cloud
Burnham Government Warns of Difficult Autumn Budget as Fiscal Headroom Narrows
Bank of England Holds Rates at 3.75% as Inflation Rises to 3.1%
Ed Sheeran Tour Faces Backlash After Macklemore Is Removed Over Pro-Palestinian Remarks
Vandalism of Traffic Cameras Intensifies Across Parts of England
Nearly 300 Evacuated as Fire Hits Grand Burstin Hotel in Folkestone
King Charles Warns AI Executives About Risks From Uncontrolled Technology
Church of England Apologises for Role in Historical Forced Adoption Practices
UK Debate Over Online Speech Intensifies After Arrest Figures Draw Scrutiny
Oxfordshire Village Holds Symbolic Independence Vote Over Asylum Accommodation Plan
Nigel Farage and Richard Tice Sue National Crime Agency Over Alleged Banking Data Leaks
Apple Introduces Stricter Age Checks for UK Accounts
BBC Cash Reserves Fall 66% to £125 Million as Broadcaster Restructures
McLaren Announces £500 Million UK Investment and Plans 1,000 Jobs
Green Party Wins Historic Gorton and Denton By-Election as Labour Falls to Third
Burnham Government Prepares October Budget Under Growing Fiscal Pressure
UK Energy Suppliers Pull Fixed-Price Deals as Wholesale Markets Turn More Volatile
Bank of England Holds Rates at 3.75% as Middle East Energy Shock Raises Inflation Risks
Addison Lee Founder Loses £20 Million UK Tax Tribunal Case
BrewDog Creditors Face Losses on About £190 Million of Debt
Harrods Seeks to Recover Abuse Compensation Costs From Mohamed Al Fayed’s Estate
Ed Davey Targets Reform UK as Liberal Democrat Conference Opens
Great Britain Retail Sales Rise 0.5% in August
NHS England Approves Life-Extending Treatment for Incurable Breast Cancer
Proposals to Limit NHS ADHD Diagnoses Draw Criticism From Patient Groups
Resolution Foundation Warns of Housing Cost Crunch for Low-Income UK Families
BBC Cash Reserves Fall to Decade Low as Annual Deficit Reaches £121 Million
Millisecond Software Error Triggered Major UK Air Traffic Control Disruption
Twenty Women Underwent Unnecessary Mastectomies During NHS Cancer Care
Sensitive UK Police Data Found Vulnerable to Access by Foreign Actors
British Steel Faces Renewed Pressure for a Long-Term Financial Plan
MPs Urge Government to End Thames Water Restructuring Talks With U.S. Hedge Funds
Andy Burnham Warns of Difficult UK Budget Choices as Inflation Returns to 3.1%
England Tightens School Food Standards With Restrictions on Deep-Fried and High-Sugar Foods
Oxfordshire Village Votes Symbolically to Leave UK Over Proposed Asylum Centre
Michael Marra Elected Leader of Scottish Labour
BBC Cash Reserves Fall Sharply as Financial Pressures Mount
George Osborne Calls for UK to Rejoin EU Customs Union
×