NEW YORK: The S&P and the Dow were flat in early afternoon trading on Wednesday as doubts over a Republican tax plan and the broader outlook for US growth hurt bank shares, while the Nasdaq was slightly higher.

Investors were nervous about the potential outcome of the plan to cut corporate taxes, which was unveiled last week and is seen as crucial to stronger economic growth.

As well as slashing the corporate rate to 20 percent from 35 percent, the bill would eliminate many tax breaks and is expected to face opposition from interest groups.

US House Speaker Paul Ryan told Fox News Radio the House Tax Bill has immediate corporate rate cut, but phasing in rate reduction would still be good for businesses.

“Investors realize that the House tax plan is a preliminary one and don’t really expect it to pass. We haven’t even seen what the Senate version of the bill looks like,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial.

“I think the market has already processed a lot of good news including strong earnings and now some of the worries are taking over.”

Republicans are yet to score a major legislative win since Trump took office in January, even though the party controls both chambers of Congress as well as the White House.

The S&P has risen about 21 percent since the election of President Donald Trump a year ago, partly on the back of his promises to cut taxes and other business-friendly measures.

At 12:44 p.m. ET (1644 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2.66 points, or 0.01 percent, at 23,554.57, the S&P 500 was up 0.48 points, or 0.01 percent, at 2,591.12.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 5.53 points, or 0.08 percent, at 6,773.31.—Reuters