05:20 PM EDT, 05/21/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity benchmarks fell Wednesday, while bond yields climbed amid concerns that President Donald Trump's proposed tax-cut bill would increase budget deficits.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.9% lower at 41,860.4, while the S&P 500 declined 1.6% to 5,844.6. The Nasdaq Composite lost 1.4% to 18,872.6. Barring communication services, all sectors ended in the red, with real estate, health care, and financials down more than 2% each.

Treasury yields were higher, with the 10-year rate jumping 10.4 basis points to 4.60% and the two-year rate advancing 4.5 basis point to 4.02%.

The Congressional Budget Office has projected that the tax and immigration bill would add $2.3 trillion to the country's deficit over 10 years, The Washington Post reported. House Republicans and the White House were pushing for a vote on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, certain Republicans were headed to the White House amid concerns that the bill doesn't adequately lower spending, Reuters reported.

"Treasury yields surged amid growing fiscal anxiety as standoff over (Trump's) tax-cut bill unfolds," D.A. Davidson said in a morning client note.

The package is "unlikely to pass in the Senate absent big modifications," said Derek Holt, head of capital markets economics at Scotiabank.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 1.1% at $61.36 a barrel. Government data showed a surprise build in US commercial crude stockpiles last week. Oil prices gained earlier in the day following reports of potential strikes by Israel on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday rejected US demands to halt uranium enrichment, Reuters reported.

In company news, UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ) shares were down 5.8%, the biggest drop on the Dow. The health insurance giant allegedly paid thousands of dollars in bonuses to nursing homes where it installed its own medical teams and pressured them to help cut care expenses for residents, the Guardian reported.

"The US Department of Justice investigated these allegations, interviewed witnesses, and obtained thousands of documents that demonstrated the significant factual inaccuracies in the allegations," a spokesperson said to MT Newswires in an emailed response. "After reviewing all the evidence during its multi-year investigation, the Department of Justice declined to pursue the matter."

Target's ( TGT ) fiscal first-quarter results fell more than Wall Street's estimates, while the retailer slashed its full-year outlook, citing the impact of tariffs and uncertain consumer spending. Its shares slumped 5.2%.

Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) class A and C shares were 2.8% and 2.9% higher, respectively, the top gainers on the S&P 500. Google ( GOOG ) Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said at a developers conference Tuesday that the search engine is rolling out an "AI Mode" that answers queries in a chatbot-style conversation.

VF (VFC) tumbled nearly 16% after the apparel and footwear company reported weaker-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter revenue, weighed down mainly by the Vans brand.

Gold was up 1.1% at $3,320.60 per troy ounce, while silver jumped 1.7% to $33.75 per ounce.