Markets Start 2013 With Mighty Bang

Summary of business headlines: Stocks surge a day after politicians reach "fiscal cliff" deal; Avis Budget Group buys Zipcar for $500 billion; Judge rules that Amazon can use the word "app" for its Appstore; US manufacturing returns to growth; Superstorm Sandy aid held up - Governor Christie blames the House Speaker.

Published

5 months ago

Categories

Finance

Topics

United States

People

John Boehner, Chris Christie

Places

United States of America, New Jersey

Companies

Apple Inc., Amazon, Inc., Avis, Zipcar

Transcript

Wall Street's 2013 kicked off with a mighty bang. Stocks soared after Congress reached an eleventh-hour 'fiscal cliff' deal The Dow racked up 308 points while the S&P 500 rose 36 and the Nasdaq jumped 92. This marked stocks' best one-day performance in over a year. While the newly crafted legislation sidesteps $600 billion in tax increases, it defers hundreds of billions in spending cuts for another two months. That's when a bigger showdown looms as politicians address the cuts and raising the debt limit. So this rally may be short lived, says. Eric Maronack, Victory NewBridge Capital Management. SOUNDBITE: Eric Maronack, Victory NewBridge Capital Management (ENGLISH) saying: "We averted a crisis for now but that doesn't mean problems are solved. It means issues have been delayed for a couple of months." One of the first merger deals of the year: rental car agency Avis Budget Group is buying ZipCar, a car-sharing service, for a half billion in cash. In a legal brawl between Amazon.com and Apple, a judge ruled that Amazon can use the term "app" for its Appstore selling Android products. Apple argued unsuccessfully that using the word amounted to 'false advertising'. U.S. manufacturing returned to mild growth in December after a surprise contraction the prior month. Employment in particular, notching its highest level in three months. Meanwhile mud was being slung over a delayed vote on $60 billion in federal relief aid for victims of Superstorm Sandy. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie blamed House speaker John Boehner for the hold up. The vote for most of the funding is scheduled for January 15th. Turning to the European markets, resolution on the long-awaited U.S. budget pact sent shares to a 20-month high.