By Sinead Carew
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks in major markets dipped along with the U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasury yields on the last day of February as investors waited for signals on stimulus spending and tax cuts in President Donald Trump's Tuesday night Congressional address.
The global MSCI ACWI index (MIWD00000PUS) was off 0.3 percent after rising more than 8 percent since Trump's election in November on expectations for a pro-business administration.
Investors worried whether Trump would be able to reveal any concrete plans to realise his campaign promises and some mentioned the possibility of a U.S. equities correction.
"There's significant risk for a potential delay or a watering down of the campaign promises. He can get some things done but it won't be as phenomenal as expected," said Paul Eitelman, Multi-Asset Investment Strategist at Russell Investments in Seattle.
Wall Street indexes and bond yields were not helped by fourth-quarter U.S. data including gross domestic product growth that was below expectations while some investors had hoped for an upward revision, according to investment managers.
In late-afternoon New York trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was down 31.19 points, or 0.15 percent, to 20,806.25, the S&P 500 (SPX) had lost 7.73 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,362.02 and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) had dropped 39.10 points, or 0.67 percent, to 5,822.80.
"The real question becomes how much patience does the market have," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial (LON:PRU) in Newark, New Jersey.
The U.S. dollar was down 0.05 percent against a basket of currencies (DXY). It rallied to a 14-year high soon after the U.S. election but is down year-to-date in the absence of specific plans on Trump's key promises.
Trump met U.S. state governors at the White House on Monday and said he sees "big" infrastructure spending and is seeking a military spending hike of more than 9 percent.
David Kelly, Chief Global Strategist, JP Morgan Asset Management, does not expect highly detailed policy proposals.
"However, it will be important to see how optimistic the administration is about the economic outlook and how willing it is to boost the deficit in an attempt to fulfil the president’s campaign promises," he said.
Yields on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes (US10YT=RR) were last at 2.347 percent, down two basis points from late Monday as investors were cautious ahead of the speech.
"People need more concrete evidence about the fiscal side of the equation," said Charles Comiskey, head of Treasuries trading at Bank of Nova Scotia in New York.
In Europe, upbeat company earnings helped the FTSEurofirst 300 index (FTEU3) rise 0.2 percent, snapping a three-day dip and consolidating a 2.6 percent monthly gain. (EU)
In commodity markets, oil futures dipped with OPEC-led output cuts offset by increasing crude production from the United States. Brent crude (LCOc1) was down 0.7 percent at $55.56 a barrel while U.S. crude (CLc1) was down 0.3 percent at $53.90. [O/R]
Gold <XAU=> was down 0.2 percent at $1,250.68 an ounce. On Monday it had hit a 3-1/2-month high intraday but ended lower.