Stocks were slightly higher on Wall Street on Wednesday, ahead of the resumption of negotiations over the federal budget in Washington.
In early trading, the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index gained 0.1 percent, the Dow Jones industrial average added 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq composite index rose 0.1 percent. European markets were closed for the Boxing Day holiday.
President Obama, after vacationing in Hawaii, was due back in Washington early Thursday for a final effort to negotiate a deal with Congress to avert or at least postpone the so-called fiscal cliff, a series of tax increases and government spending cuts set to begin next week.
“This is what we’ve come to — the president might get on a plane today and this is what the markets might react to,” said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh. “It’s all about the fiscal cliff.”
A Republican plan that failed to gain traction last week triggered the recent decline in the S.&P. 500, highlighting market sensitivity to headlines centered on the talks. In economic data, the S.&P.
Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas showed single-family home prices rose in October, reinforcing the view the domestic real estate market is improving.
The benchmark S.&P. index was up 13.4 percent for the year before Wednesday and has recouped nearly all of the losses suffered in the wake of the presidential election in November, when the fiscal impasse moved to the forefront of investors’ focus.
The yen slumped to a 20-month low against the dollar after Shinzo Abe assumed office as Japan’s new prime minister and reiterated his pledge to push for more drastic monetary and fiscal measures and tame the strong Japanese currency.
The euro traded above $1.32 against the dollar for a seventh straight session.
nytimes.com
In early trading, the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index gained 0.1 percent, the Dow Jones industrial average added 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq composite index rose 0.1 percent. European markets were closed for the Boxing Day holiday.
President Obama, after vacationing in Hawaii, was due back in Washington early Thursday for a final effort to negotiate a deal with Congress to avert or at least postpone the so-called fiscal cliff, a series of tax increases and government spending cuts set to begin next week.
“This is what we’ve come to — the president might get on a plane today and this is what the markets might react to,” said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh. “It’s all about the fiscal cliff.”
A Republican plan that failed to gain traction last week triggered the recent decline in the S.&P. 500, highlighting market sensitivity to headlines centered on the talks. In economic data, the S.&P.
Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas showed single-family home prices rose in October, reinforcing the view the domestic real estate market is improving.
The benchmark S.&P. index was up 13.4 percent for the year before Wednesday and has recouped nearly all of the losses suffered in the wake of the presidential election in November, when the fiscal impasse moved to the forefront of investors’ focus.
The yen slumped to a 20-month low against the dollar after Shinzo Abe assumed office as Japan’s new prime minister and reiterated his pledge to push for more drastic monetary and fiscal measures and tame the strong Japanese currency.
The euro traded above $1.32 against the dollar for a seventh straight session.
nytimes.com
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