U.S. stocks gain on hopes for end to D.C. stalemate; Dow rises 0.42%

U.S. stocks gain on hopes for end to D.C. stalemate; Dow rises 0.42%

Investing.com ג€“ U.S. stocks rose on Monday as hopes began to build in the afternoon that policymakers are closer to agreeing on a plan to end a political deadlock that has closed the federal government and is also threatening to throw the country into default.

At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.42%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.41%, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.62%.

The U.S. is due to hit its debt ceiling on Thursday, after which Washington won't be able to guarantee all of its obligations.

Negotiations between the White House and congressional Republicans and Democrats remained in a deadlock at the closing bell on Monday, with both sides unable to agree on a short-term debt ceiling increase.�

A government shutdown, also the product of congressional ability to agree on a spending package, was set to enter its third week this week.

However, on Monday afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said lawmakers were getting closer to a deal that could steer the country away from default and reopen the federal government.

President Barack Obama as due to meet with lawmakers earlier Monday to discuss ways to end the stalemate, which boosted stocks even though the meeting was postponed reportedly to give Reid and the Senate's top Republican, Mitch McConnell, more time to craft a plan to end the deadlock.

While no details on any pending deals emerged, hopes for a last-minute accord that will avoid crisis still lifted stocks.

Elsewhere, global finance ministers and central bank chiefs gathered in Washington for the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, calling for urgent action to end the stalemate and avoid default, which could bruise global economic recovery.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Sunday that failure to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government has global policymakers worried.

ג€�If there is that degree of disruption, that lack of certainty, that lack of trust in the U.S. signature, it would mean massive disruption the world over, and we would be at risk of tipping, yet again, into recession,ג€� Lagarde said in an interview with NBCג€™S ג€�Meet the Pressג€� news program.

Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Pfizer, up 2.19%, Boeing, up 1.25%, and Microsoft, up 1.03%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included Merck, down 1.12%, AT&T, down 0.79%, and Verizon, down 0.57%.

European indices, meanwhile, finished largely higher.

After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.01%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.07%, while Germany's DAX 30 slipped 0.01%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 finished up 0.32%.