US stocks ticked higher on Wednesday after a deal was reached on an economic-stimulus package, though some energy and commodity stocks were weak as economic reports underscored the need for stimulus.
The International Energy Agency said US oil demand in December slid more than 6%, hurting the price of oil. Also Wednesday, markets digested reports showing that imports to and exports from both China and the US – the twin engines of the global economy – fell sharply. Stocks dipped midsession, but bounced after Sen. Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada said Wednesday that a deal had been reached on a $789bn economic stimulus bill, adding that the Senate could vote on as soon as Thursday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which slid 382 points in the previous session due largely to uncertainty about the Treasury Department’s unveiling of a rough plan to buy toxic credit bets from banks, was up 50.65 points (0.64%) to 7,939.53.
Banks regained some of their Tuesday losses even as executives were put on the hot seat in Congress: Bank of America was up 7.7% to $5.99 and Citigroup was up 7.5% to $3.60. The S&P 500 rose 6.58 points (0.80%) 833.74.
Bank stocks have plummeted since late last year despite a series of major steps by federal officials, with traders seemingly uneasy about anything that comes out of Washington.
While credit markets have improved from their late-2008 unprecedented freezing, equities are only narrowly higher than their low points of that year. Increasingly it appears equity investors are getting out of stocks completely and cautiously pushing into other asset classes with any funds they take from the sidelines.
Among other asset classes, Treasuries and gold futures were rallying and the dollar was gaining against the euro.
The NASDAQ ended 5.77 points (0.38%) higher at 1,530.50, though it was hurt by an 18% fall to $46.88 for shares of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, which had been one of the tech stocks that held up best through the market’s downdraft in recent months.
Also hurting the Nasdaq was a slide for transportation stocks including airlines, truckers and even railroad companies. Among the biggest decliners was JB Hunt, down 6.6% to $22.79. While a rise in oil prices played a role in the weakness, a flood of notes have come in from analysts in recent weakness disparaging many in the transportation sector.
In economic news, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told a Senate panel that the US financial system faces unprecedented challenges that require new and aggressive programs to help solve the ongoing crisis.

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It sure is measuring up to the past crashes in pass century and given all the massive negative press and reporting that the sky is about to fall. This crash will go down in history as hugely monstreous!

Not even a coordinated barrage of rate cuts could prevent the stock market crash of October 2008 measuring up to those of October 1987 and 1929.
US stocks slid late in the session Wednesday, weighed down by continued tightness in credit markets, the need for capital at financial firms like Bank of America and a disappointing kickoff to the earnings season from Alcoa.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 189.01 points (2%) to 9,258.10, its sixth straight decline and its lowest close since Aug. 11, 2003, more than five years ago.
For the week so far, the Dow is down 10%, on top of a 7.3% loss last week. By comparison, in the worst week of the 1929 crash, the week ended Oct. 19 that year, the Dow took a loss of 8.2%; the blue-chip index lost 13% on the week that started with Black Monday, Oct. 19, 1987. So far in October, the Dow is off 15%, compared with a loss of 20% in October 1929 and a loss of 23% in October 1987.
The broad Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 11.29 (1.13%) to 984.94, its lowest finish since Aug. 13, 2003. As of Tuesday, the S&P 500 had wiped out about $1.48tr in wealth during October, according to S&P.The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 14.55 (0.83%) to 1,740.33, also its lowest since August 2003.

Don’t believe in everything you read in the press. This perhaps could turn out to be an opportunity of a life time for many people (and not the mass). Take a look at all this from a different perspective. A “blessing in disguise” is the phrase I’d be inspired to in time of extreme crisis. If anything, at least we still have time on our side. Well, most of us anyway, and certainly I.