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STOCKS ABHOR A VACUUM: WALL STREET RED AT TOP OF WHAT APPEARS TO BE AN UNEVENTFUL SESSION

Wall Street's first steps on Wednesday were backward.

All three major U.S. stock indexes sauntered out of the gate in negative territory, with the blue-chip Dow .DJI down the most.

Healthcare .SPXHC, consumer discretionary .SPLRCD, airlines .SPCOMAIR, regional banks .KRX, transports .DJT and housing .HGX are among underperformers.

With little going on in the way of economic data (aside from weekly home loan data from the Mortgage Bankers Association) and first quarter earnings season all but over save a handful of mixed results from retailers, investors had little to light their way forward amid lingering uncertainties surrounding Trump's stalled $4.5 trillion tax bill and rising U.S. Treasury yields.

U.S. House Republicans are still struggling to get on the same page with respect to the Trump tax cut bill after the House Rules committee began a debate at 1 a.m. this morning in hopes that the package, estimated to add trillions to the $36.2 trillion debt just days after Moody's U.S. sovereign downgrade, could pass as soon as today.

Target TGT.N and Lowe's LOW.N aped their respective rivals Walmart WMT.N and Home Depot HD.N, with Target trimming its annual forecast due to softening consumer spending and Lowe's affirming its annual guidance due to solid demand.

Today in Fedspeak, at 14:00 EDT, New York Fed President John Williams will give a keynote speech at a working session hosted by the NY Fed.

Here's the lay of the land as of 09:49 a.m. EDT:

(Stephen Culp)

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WEDNESDAY'S EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:

NASDAQ COMPOSITE: TRADERS GAUGE INTERNAL TENSION CLICK HERE

HOT UK INFLATION: NOT AS BAD AS IT LOOKS? CLICK HERE

CHOPPY WATERS NOW, BUT EUROPE BULL CASE BUILDING - MS CLICK HERE

NO BIG SHIFT OUT OF US TREASURIES BY MID-APRIL - BOFA CLICK HERE

DEFENSIVES UP, BANKS STEADY, UK RETAILERS SLIDE CLICK HERE

NERVOUS INVESTORS PUT DOLLAR UNDER PRESSURE CLICK HERE