The government shutdown is over: Obama

On Thursday night, US President Barack Obama signed legislation to reopen our government and pay our bills. 

“Because Democrats and responsible Republicans came together, the first government shutdown in 17 years is now over,” he said on Thursday in the State Dining Room. “The first default in more than 200 years will not happen. These twin threats to our economy have been lifted.”

There was no economic rationale for all this, President Obama said: “Over the past four years, our economy has been growing, our businesses have been creating jobs, and our deficits have been cut in half,” he said, “but nothing has done more to undermine our economy these past three years than the kind of tactics that create these manufactured crises.”

The way business is done in Washington has to change, President Obama said.

Because we’ve all got a lot of work to do on behalf of the American people – and that includes the hard work of regaining their trust. Our system of self-government doesn’t function without it. And now that the government is reopened, and this threat to our economy is removed, all of us need to stop focusing on the lobbyists, and the bloggers, and the talking heads on radio, and the professional activists who profit from conflict, and focus on what the majority of Americans sent us here to do – and that’s grow this economy, create good jobs, strengthen the middle class, lay the foundation for broad-based prosperity, and get our fiscal house in order for the long haul.

President Obama laid out three places where he believes we can make progress right now: Pursuing a budget that grows our economy faster and shrinks our long-term deficits further; fixing our broken immigration system; and passing a farm bill.

“I will look for willing partners wherever I can to get important work done,” President Obama said. “And there's no good reason why we can't govern responsibly, despite our differences, without lurching from manufactured crisis to manufactured crisis.”

Those of us who have the privilege to serve this country have an obligation to do our job as best we can. We come from different parties, but we are Americans first. And that’s why disagreement cannot mean dysfunction. It can't degenerate into hatred. The American people’s hopes and dreams are what matters, not ours. Our obligations are to them. Our regard for them compels us all, Democrats and Republicans, to cooperate, and compromise, and act in the best interests of our nation –- one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Wall St rallies on earnings optimism

U.S. stocks logged their best one-day gain in about six weeks on Wednesday after a bullish forecast from financial company State Street Corp fueled optimism about the coming earnings season and helped the S&P 500 break above a major resistance level.

State Street shares closed 9.9 percent higher at $36.63 after the asset manager and custody firm said quarterly earnings would far exceed expectations, providing a lifeline to investors after several weeks of dismal economic reports.

Bank stocks led the way, but investors also scooped up beaten-down industrial and technology shares.

"There is some confidence now that there will be more positive surprises than negative during the earnings season," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co in San Francisco.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 274.66 points, or 2.82 percent, to 10,018.28. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 32.21 points, or 3.13 percent, to 1,060.27. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 65.59 points, or 3.13 percent, to 2,159.47.

It was the indexes' biggest percentage advance since May 27.

The KBW bank index climbed 5.6 percent, while State Street rivals Northern Trust Corp rose 6.9 percent to $49.14 and Bank of New York Mellon Corp was up 6.4 percent to $26.32.

European banks also rallied on optimism most would pass the European banking stress tests, giving a boost to the wider market.

When the benchmark S&P 500 index broke through 1,040, it fueled more buying by those who had put on short positions. The 1,040 level was viewed as a resistance level to further gains, according to Todd Salamone, vice president of research at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

"That creates a very crowded position that is very vulnerable to an unwind, and I think we're seeing that today," he said.

The S&P 500 closed around 1,060, the next resistance level that could prevent the index from rising further on Thursday. The index has reached the 23.6 percent retracement of the move from its 2010 high in April to its year low hit last week.

Industrial and technology stocks were also among the day's gainers with General Electric up 4.7 percent at $14.62

and Cisco System up 5.3 percent at $22.48. The two stocks were the top gainers on the Dow.

Energy shares also got a boost from August crude futures that advanced 3.4 percent to $74.43 a barrel, sending the S&P energy index up 3.2 percent.

Crude climbed on the expectation that upcoming data would show a drop in U.S. inventories, a positive sign for demand, as well as weakness in the U.S. dollar.

But analysts warned that the rally may be short-lived, considering the current economic conditions.

"We may see riskier behavior heading into the next couple of days. It's not uncommon to see a short term technical rally," said Tom Schrader, managing director at Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets in Baltimore.

"(But) I don't think it's sustainable beyond about a week. The overall economic situation is not conducive to equities."

UBS lowered its full-year forecast on the S&P to 1,150 from 1,350. The firm said the reduced view reflected modestly weaker earnings growth and longer-term secular headwinds.

In earnings news, Family Dollar Stores Inc tumbled 8 percent to $36.26 after it forecast fourth-quarter earnings below expectations.

Among its discount retailer peers, Dollar Tree Inc slipped 3.1 percent to $41.61 while BJ's Wholesale Corp was off 1.1 percent at $42.72.

BP Plc Chief Executive Tony Hayward met with officials from Abu Dhabi's investment authority as speculation mounted the sovereign fund would make a fresh investment. BP's U.S.-listed shares rose 4 percent to $33.12.

Overall volume was tepid, with about 8.95 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, below last year's estimated daily average of 9.65 billion.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 2650 to 431, while on the Nasdaq, advancers beat decliners by 2080 to 588.

Us Markets falls 2 percent after consumer data

Stocks dropped 2 percent on Tuesday after data showed U.S. consumer confidence fell steeply in June on worries about the labor market.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI dropped 217.28 points, or 2.14 percent, to 9,921.24. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX fell 24.94 points, or 2.32 percent, to 1,049.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC slid 63.75 points, or 2.87 percent, to 2,156.90.

The S&P 500 fell below its 2010 closing low of 1,050.47, leaving support near 1,040, its intraday low so far this year.

The CBOE volatility index .VIX, a gauge of investor anxiety, shot up more than 16 percent to a session high of 33.82.

Nikkei slips below 10,000 mark on weak US data

Japan’s Nikkei fell below 10,000 mark today after Wall Street closed lower with all three major indices finishing more than one per cent lower on weak housing data. Japan’s Nikkei is currently trading down by1.67% or 168.44 points at 9945.43.

Investor’s sentiment were sluggish on fresh recurring doubts over the strength of the economic recovery in the world's largest economy and one of Japan's largest trading partners.

The shares that had climbed on the hopes that the Yuan flexibility decision would boost Chinese purchasing power like shippers and machinery shares lost ground today.  

Nippon Yusen slid 3.9% to 343 yen and fellow shipper Mitsui O.S.K. Lines lost 2.9% to 640 yen. Hitachi Construction fell 2% to 1,827 yen.

US stocks trade in narrow range at open

Fresh concerns about Europe's sovereign debt crisis are keeping the US stock market in check.

Stocks are trading in a narrow range Tuesday after Fitch Ratings cut its view on BNP Paribas, one of Europe's largest banks, and ahead of the start of the Federal Reserve's two-day rate-setting committee meeting.

The downgrade of BNP Paribas renews worries that Europe's debt problems will slow a global recovery and lead to another round of losses at banks.

The Fed is expected to keep rates at historic lows as a domestic recovery remains slow.

The Dow Jones industrial average is up 9.52, or 0.1 percent, at 10,452.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is up 1.11, or 0.1 percent, at 1,114.31, while the Nasdaq composite index is up 9.09, or 0.4 percent, at 2,298.18.