LIVE MARKETS-Tax bill blues: US stocks start Thursday on a lackluster note

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TAX BILL BLUES: U.S. STOCKS START THURSDAY ON A LACKLUSTER NOTE

Wall Street took its first steps into Thursday's session in a tentative manner, as investors appear to be nonplussed by the narrow House passage of the Trump tax bill and a spate of economic indicators that offered few surprises.

But data pointing to accelerated business activity helped coax buyers into the fold.

All three major U.S. stock indexes are higher, with gains in communication services .SPLRCL and tech .SPLRCT putting the Nasdaq .IXIC out front.

Energy .SPNY and utilities .SPLRCU, are clear underperformers, while the battered airlines group .SPCOMAIR is showing a partial rebound from its recent altitude loss.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed Trump's sweeping $3.8 trillion tax and spending package by a one-vote margin, sending the bill to the Senate for further debate.

The 215-214 vote occurred amid concerns over the ballooning U.S. debt, which prompted Moody's one-notch U.S. sovereign downgrade last week.

Today in Fedspeak, Fed Governor Christopher Waller told Fox Business that he sees rate cut possibilities in the latter half of the year, if Trump's market-rattling tariffs are settled "down close to 10%."

Fed Board Governor Lisa Cook is due to give a virtual address on financial stability at noon.

On the economic front, initial jobless claims inched lower last week, but continuing claims increased more than expected, S&P Global's preliminary "flash" PMI showed U.S. business activity is expanding at a slightly accelerated pace this month, and existing home sales unexpectedly dipped in April.

Here's the lay of the land as of 10:01 a.m. EDT:

(Stephen Culp)

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