Markets mixed, US taxes may be “going higher”

Markets were mixed on Thursday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.9 percent but the STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.7 percent and the Nikkei 225 surged 2.4 percent.

US stocks came under pressure after a report said that President Joe Biden is slated to propose much higher capital gains taxes for the rich.

“Expect selling this year if investors sense the proposal has a chance of becoming law next year,” said Jack Ablin, Cresset Capital Management’s founding partner and CIO.

Doug Sandler, head of global strategy at RiverFront Investment Group, said that the Democrats hold only a narrow majority in Congress, so Biden's proposal “seems too controversial to get passed, but it starts the framework that taxes are going higher”.

Elsewhere, the European Central Bank kept its monetary policy unchanged on Thursday.