US markets jump on progress in budget talks

18 Dec 2012 Evaluate

The US markets edged higher on Monday, with financials leading the advance, buoyed by reports of progress in Washington reaching towards a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff of tax and spending measures that could tip the economy back into recession. The US budget talks appeared to make progress with House Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama meeting at the White House. President Obama has made a new offer to avert the US fiscal cliff, moving closer to the Republicans’ position. Boehner, over the weekend, reportedly offered to allow higher taxes on incomes of $1 million and above and to increase the debt ceiling for one year. The White House's latest counterproposal includes $1.2 trillion in revenue increases and $1.22 trillion in spending reductions. Boehner’s new proposal would bring in $1 trillion in revenue over 10 years, compared to $1.4 trillion for Obama’s proposal. While Boehner would raise the debt ceiling for one year, Obama wants unlimited power to increase the country’s borrowing limit.

Besides, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker predicted that economy will grow 2 percent next year and added that Fed’s stepped up purchases of bonds won’t do much to spur the recovery. Lacker dissented last week from a decision by the Federal Open Market Committee to buy additional bonds and to link an increase in the Fed’s main interest rate to unemployment, saying no single indicator can provide a complete picture of the labor market. His prediction of 2 percent growth is less than the central tendency predictions by other policy makers ranging from 2.3 percent to 3 percent for 2013. On the economy front, the New York manufacturers continued to decline at a modest pace in December, according to the latest data release from the New York Federal Reserve. The general business conditions index was negative for a fifth consecutive month, falling three points to -8.1. The new orders index dropped to -3.7, while the shipments index declined six points to 8.8.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 100.38 points or 0.76 percent, to close at 13,235.40, the S&P 500 jumped by 16.78 points or 1.19 percent, to finish at 1,430.36, while the Nasdaq rose by 39.27 points or 1.32 percent, to end at 3,010.60.

Indian ADRs closed mixed on Monday, Tata Motors was up 0.68%, ICICI Bank was up 0.47% and Sterlite Industries was up 0.40%. On the other hand, HDFC Bank was down by 0.29% and Infosys was down 0.22%.

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