02:15 PM EDT, 05/21/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes were lower intraday, while Treasury yields rose as markets tracked developments around President Donald Trump's proposed tax-cut bill.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.7% at 41,944.8 after midday Wednesday, while the S&P 500 fell 1.2% to 5,869.5. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.9% to 18,961.8. Barring communication services, all sectors were in the red, led by real estate.

US Treasury yields were higher, with the 10-year rate jumping 10 basis points to 4.58% and the two-year rate advancing 4.5 basis point to 4.02%.

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

Certain House of Representatives Republicans were headed to the White House amid concerns that the bill doesn't adequately lower spending, Reuters reported. House Speaker Mike Johnson will join a meeting scheduled for 3 pm, the news agency reported, citing the White House.

"There is a chance for a vote today," Johnson reportedly said.

Bitcoin reached a new record high of $109,500 earlier in the session, surpassing its January record, CNBC reported, citing Coin Metrics. The cryptocurrency's price was most recently up 0.3% at $106,944.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 0.6% at $61.64 a barrel intraday.

In company news, UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ) shares were down 4.9%, 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.

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 were down 5.5%.

Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) class A and C shares were up more than 3.6% each, the top gainer 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.

Snowflake (SNOW), Zoom Communications ( ZM ) and Urban Outfitters ( URBN ) are among the companies scheduled to report results after the closing bell Wednesday.

In economic news, mortgage applications in the US dropped last week as macro concerns pushed rates to the highest level since February, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Gold was up 0.9% at $3,313.50 per troy ounce, while silver jumped 1% to $33.49 per ounce.