Business News Copyright 2013 The New York Times Company The New York Times October 15, 2013 Tuesday HEADLINE: Hope Edges Out Anxiety on Wall St. BODY: The stock market posted modest gains in a volatile session on Monday, as investors cautiously bet that there would soon be a deal in Washington to increase the governments debt ceiling and avoid default. Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, and Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, who began talks on Saturday, appeared together on the Senate floor and expressed optimism that a deal could be made final within days. Stocks initially fell on Monday after weekend talks failed to reach a solution that would reopen the federal government and raise the $16.7 trillion federal borrowing limit by Thursday. Failure to raise the debt ceiling could leave the government unable to pay its bills in the coming weeks. Bringing everyone together was enough to get us to come back after opening quite a bit lower, but were still very much under the assumption that were at an impasse, said Ralph Bassett, deputy head of North American equities at Aberdeen Asset Management. We expect there will be an agreement in the next day or so, but theres a lot of fear. In addition to the debt ceiling, the government shutdown, entering its third week, is seen as a drag on the economy by shaving a small percentage off the nations gross domestic product with each passing day. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 64.15 points, or 0.42 percent, to close at 15,301.26. The Standard & Poors 500-stock index gained 6.94 points, or 0.41 percent, to 1,710.14. The Nasdaq composite index was up 23.40 points, or 0.62 percent, at 3,815.28. In a sign of the markets caution, the C.B.O.E. volatility index, which typically trades inversely to the S.& P. 500, rose 2.2 percent. Trading volume was low, although that was related to the Columbus Day holiday, and the American bond market was closed. Late Friday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note was 2.69 percent. Despite investor caution, eight of the S.& P.s 10 sectors rose on Monday. About 55 percent of stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange closed higher, while 59 percent of Nasdaq-listed shares closed up. Along with waiting for a resolution of the fiscal crisis in Washington, investors are looking ahead to corporate earnings this week, with Citigroup, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson and Intel among the companies scheduled to report their results. Market participants are looking to see what kind of impact the deadlock in Washington has had on company earnings and forecasts. With 6 percent of S.& P. 500 companies having reported, 55 percent have exceeded profit expectations, below the historical average. Earnings have been mixed at best, with revenue growth especially tepid, said Mr. Bassett, who helps oversee $312 billion in assets. By and large, were focused on companies where earnings growth isnt dependent on G.D.P. being at a certain rate. Among the stocks on the move, shares of Netflix rose $23.51, or 7.8 percent, to $324.36, making it the S.& P. 500s top gainer, after The Wall Street Journal reported that the company was in talks with several cable television companies to make its streaming video service available through their set-top boxes. On the downside, Expedia plunged $3.22, or 6.2 percent, to $48.51, after Deutsche Bank downgraded its stock to a hold from a buy. And Whirlpool fell $9.13, or 6.5 percent, to $131.29, after Cleveland Research, in a note to clients, pointed to softening demand for appliances. URL: nytimes/2013/10/15/business/international/daily-stock-market.html GRAPHIC: PHOTO: A traders reflection in his monitor at the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks made modest gains after an early slip Monday. (PHOTOGRAPH BY CARLO ALLEGRI/REUTERS) CHART: The Dow Minute by Minute: Position of the Dow Jones industrial average at 1-minute intervals yesterday. (Source: Bloomberg) LOAD-DATE: October 15, 2013 Copyright © 2013 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms and Conditions Privacy Policy
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 15:29:34 +0000