NEW YORK: Stocks rose on Thursday as Republican House Speaker John Boehner expressed optimism about reaching a budget deal with President Barack Obama.
Boehner told an afternoon news conference that he planned to continue working with Obama, even as the Ohio Republican pushed a vote on his plan to limit prospective tax increases to incomes of more than $1 million.
“Maybe the conciliatory aspect is what the market is biting on, perhaps there is more openness to this being a negotiating tool rather than a final step,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott.
“I still think there is a good chance that we have something that is agreed to by the 31st of December, maybe absent some detail, but one where we can in fact go into the beginning of the year with a framework for discussion,” Luschini added.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 59.75 points, or 0.5 percent, to end at 13,311.72, with Bank of America Corp. up 3 percent and JPMorgan Chase & Co. up 2.3 percent.
The S&P 500 index rose 7.88 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,443.69.
IntercontinentalExchange Inc. said it would acquire NYSE Euronext Inc. for $8.2 billion in stock and cash. Shares of NYSE Euronext rallied 34 percent.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index added 6.02 points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,050.39.
Positive economic reports out Thursday held little interest for Wall Street.
“We do care, but we don’t care. ... We know the story on the economic side, and we know the story on the stock-market side. It’s the Washington side we’re waiting to hear from,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist for BTIG LLC.
In economic news, existing-home sales rose 5.9 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million, reaching the highest rate since November 2009.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s index of manufacturing activity climbed to an eight-month high in December.
Noting that the four-week average of initial unemployment claims was back near lows not seen since the spring of 2008, Miller Tabak equity strategist Peter Boockvar said the labor market “continues to improve but at a still lackluster pace.”