U.S. premarket

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WALL ST SLUMPS ON MOODY'S DOWNGRADE AS LAWMAKERS WRANGLE TRUMP TAX BILL

Wall Street started the week on the back foot as investors digested Moody's U.S. sovereign downgrade, which had market observers scrutinizing President Trump's tax cut bill currently struggling its way through Congress and its potential effect on the ballooning budget deficit.

All three major U.S. stock indexes headed lower right out of the gate in a broad selloff, with energy .SPNY, tech .SPLRCT, consumer discretionary .SPLRCD, chips .SOX and housing stocks .HGX down most.

The S&P 500 appears to be on track to end its five-session series of consecutive gains, while the Dow stands to snap its nine-day winning streak.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Republican lawmakers are doing their best to nudge Trump's tax bill toward passage this week, despite infighting over spending cuts and tax breaks.

"There appears to be no serious effort at reining in historically-elevated deficits, which remain on track to exceed 6% of GDP in the coming years," writes Brett Ryan, senior U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank in a research note.

First-quarter earnings season is approaching the finish line, with retailers Home Depot HD.N, Lowe's LOW.N and Target TGT.N on tap this week. Conference calls will undoubtedly be parsed for guidance changes in light of the erratic and fluid tariff situation and for clues regarding consumer demand in the face of rather dour confidence readings of late.

Here's where things stood at 09:51 EDT:

(Stephen Culp)

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