U.S. stock ended Wednesday in mostly positive
territory as President Barack Obama offered an optimistic view of the
ongoing fiscal cliff negotiations with Republicans in Congress.
"Nobody wants to get this done more than me," Obama told business
leaders in Washington Wednesday. "We could probably solve this in
about a week. It's not that tough."
Republicans called on Obama to send a counter-offer that can pass
both chambers of Congress if he does not like a proposal they
submitted earlier this week.
The so-called fiscal cliff is the more than 600 billion dollars in
tax increases and federal spending cuts that will take effect unless
Congress acts and Obama signs changes into law.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 82.71 points, or
0.64 per cent, to 13,034.49. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index
inched up 2.23 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 1,409.28. The
technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 22.99 points, or 0.77
per cent, to 2,973.70.
The US currency rose to 76.51 euro cents from 76.38 euro cents
from 76.61 euro cents Tuesday. The dollar gained against the Japanese
currency to 82.48 yen from 81.94 yen.
