U.S. stocks rise on hopes for budget deal Dow

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks climbed on Friday, adding to Wall Street’s largest single-day percentage gain since Jan. 2, after the Associated Press reported House Republicans were proposing a deal that would avert default and end the 11-day-old government shutdown.

“Investors are getting a little bit of daylight with respect to the political landscape,” said Lawrence Creatura, portfolio manager at Federated Investors. “The market is concluding that some sort of resolution is more likely now than it has been in recent days,” Creatura added.

The AP cited officials speaking on condition of anonymity in reporting senior aides to House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor detailed the plan at a late-night White House meeting on Thursday with senior administration officials.

President Barack Obama has said he wants to see the government reopened as quickly as possible without Republicans demanding any conditions for doing so. The government has been partially closed for 11 days as Republicans sought to defund the Affordable Care Act, or health-care legislation passed into law in 2010.

“There has undoubtedly been economic impact,” said Creatura, referring to the partial government closure. “However, the markets will correctly perceive this as a temporary one-off event and will look through it in valuing equities. Any company that comes up slightly light on the quarter now gets a pass, it’s ‘the government ate my homework excuse,’” Creatura said.

A day after its largest point jump since December 2011, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI JIA) advanced 111.04 points, or 0.7%, to 15,237.11, a two-week high.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index (SNC:SPX) gained 10.64 points, or 0.6%, to 1,703.20, its first finish above 1,700 in nearly three weeks.

The Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ:COMP) climbed 31.13 points, or 0.8%, to 3,791.87.

Both the Dow and the S&P 500 posted their first weekly gain in three, the former up 1.1% for the week and the latter rising 0.8% from last Friday’s close.

The Nasdaq Composite fell for its fist week in six, off 0.4% for the week.

For every stock falling, roughly three gained on the New York Stock Exchange, where nearly 635 million shares traded. Composite volume surpassed 2.9 billion. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-pa...2013-10-11