LITTLE ROCK — Investors seized on hope that Washington will reach a deal on the federal budget and drove stocks to their biggest gain in two months Monday.
A pair of strong corporate earnings reports also helped.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 207 points, or 1.7 percent. Since President Barack Obama and a divided Congress were returned to power Nov. 6, the Dow had fallen six out of eight days and slid a total of 650 points.
Obama and congressional leaders are in talks to avoid going over a “fiscal cliff” on Jan. 1, when tax increases and mandatory government spending cuts are set to take effect.
While Obama and Republicans appear at odds on whether tax rates for the wealthiest Americans should rise, lawmakers said over the weekend that progress is possible.
“I can tell you that the fiscal cliff is focusing the mind,” said Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin, a Democrat, said on CNN’s State of the Union. He said he had heard from Republicans “the beginning of a negotiation.”
Similar comments comforted investors, who are grasping for signs that the negotiations might go somewhere.
“It is quite clear that both sides want to come to a compromise and that a reasonable compromise is available,” David Kelly, chief global strategist for J.P. Morgan Funds, wrote in a note to clients.
Other financial analysts noted that there have been few substantive developments to drive the market’s swings, and suggested the market’s surge will be short-lived.
“I don’t think anything has changed. It’s just the talk from day to day,” said Stephen Carl, principal and head equity trader at The Williams Capital Group, an investment bank. “We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
This week’s market will be tougher to decipher, Carl said, because volume is increasingly light leading up to Thanksgiving. Big price swings are more likely when there are fewer buyers and sellers in the market.
The Dow finished up 207.65 points at 12,795.96. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 27.01 points, or 2 percent, to 1,386.89.
The Nasdaq composite average gained 62.94, or 2.2 percent, to 2,916.07.
Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners by about 8-to-1. Consolidated volume was about average with 3.3 billion shares traded.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were lifted by Apple, which had its biggest one-day gain since April. It rose $38.05, or 7.2 percent, to $565.73. Some analysts cast doubt on a sell off that had pushed the stock down more than 20 percent from its recent peak.
Corporate earnings reports also boosted the indexes. Lowe’s said its third-quarter profit surged 76 percent. That followed a strong report from Home Depot last week. Lowe’s rose $1.98, or 6.2 percent, to $33.96.
Tyson Foods, the country’s biggest meat company, beat analysts’ expectations for its quarterly earnings. Tyson added $1.84, or 10.9 percent, to $18.72.
Materials stocks, a category that includes forestry companies, metal producers and miners, soared, supported by the latest sign that a recovery in the housing market has stabilized.
Stocks fell in each of the past four weeks as traders fretted about the possibility that lawmakers will fail to prevent the spending cuts and tax increases from taking effect.
Business, Pages 24 on 11/20/2012