The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index led losses among the three major US stock indexes, sliding 1 percent on the day to close at 13,228.
According to reports, Nasdaq has been the poster-child for overvalued US equities this year, given high-flying stock prices for Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google. It has fallen more since the start of the year than rival US equity indices, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500.
The S&P 500, which groups the top 500 stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, fell 0.7 percent to close at 3,911.
The Dow, Wall Street’s broadest stock indicator and comprising mostly industrial stocks, dipped almost 1 percent to close at 32,423.
Stocks fell after Treasury Secretary Yellen said that the Biden administration was examining changes to US tax policy as the economy reopens from pandemic lockdowns and higher revenue was needed to fund infrastructure development, among other things.
President Joe Biden plans to raise corporate taxes, from 21 percent to 28 percent, to pay for US development in the post-pandemic era, under what will likely be the first major federal tax overhaul in almost 30 years, according to officials familiar with the proposed changes speaking with Sputnik. Biden also said that he plans to raise taxes on the earnings of individuals who make more than $400,000 in one year.