Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Wall Street falls as 'cliff' talks sour, European shares end high

US stocks sold off late in the day to close at session lows today as talks to avert a year-end fiscal crisis turned sour, even as investors still expect a deal.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 98.99 points, or 0.74 percent, to 13,251.97. The S&P 500 lost 10.98 points, or 0.76 percent, to 1,435.81. The Nasdaq Composite fell 10.17 points, or 0.33 percent, to 3,044.36.

Banks led European shares higher today as optimism on a deal to avoid tax hikes and spending cuts in the United States kept alive the end-of-year rally in equities.

The FTSEurofirst 300 - which has risen in December in 12 of the last 15 years - climbed 0.4 percent to end at 1,142.13 points, just off a fresh 19-month closing high.

Japan's Nikkei share average jumped 2.4 percent to end above 10,000 for the first time in more than eight months on Wednesday, on growing expectations of easier monetary policy under a new government.