Stocks rise, bonds fall ahead of Senate tax vote

12/13/2010

NEW YORK — Expectations of a Senate vote to extend tax cuts is helping fuel early gains in the stock market. Treasury bonds are falling Monday to their lowest levels since June.

World stock markets rose. China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.8 percent after Chinese authorities surprised investors by not raising interest rates. Investors had anticipated an interest rate hike to combat the country's high inflation.

Blue chip stocks in Europe are up 0.5 percent.

In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average is up 25, or 0.2 percent, to 11,435. The S&P 500 is up 4, or 0.3 percent, to 1,244. The Nasdaq composite index is up 5, or 0.2 percent, to 2,643.