Stocks move higher as budget talks progress
12/17/2012NEW YORK — Stocks closed higher on Wall Street today as Washington moved closer to a budget deal.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 100 points to close at 13,235, near its highest point of the day.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 17 points to 1,430 and the Nasdaq composite rose 39 points to 3,011.
In Washington, House Speaker John Boehner met with President Obama after Mr. Boehner made concessions on increasing tax rates for the wealthy.
Banks had some of the biggest gains after a brokerage raised its target price for Citigroup. Bank of America also rose.
Rising stocks outnumbered falling ones two to one on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was 3.3 billion shares, below the recent average.