US stocks hit record amid rising confidence on tax cut

Markets rose on Monday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5 percent to close at a record, the STOXX Europe 600 jumped 1.2 percent and the Nikkei 225 surged 1.6 percent.

Stocks rose amid increasing confidence that the Republican Party's tax-cut legislation will be passed.

Tony Roth, chief investment officer at Wilmington Trust, expects “a pretty significant benefit to lower tax rates, which still haven’t been fully baked into the market”.

Indeed, most Wall Street analysts expect the S&P 500 to push further into record territory in 2018.

“The coming reduction of U.S. corporate tax rates may be one of the biggest positive catalysts for U.S. equities this cycle,” said Dubravko Lakos-Bujas, US head of equity strategy at JP Morgan.