On Monday, the major indexes traded in a narrow range around the unchanged mark as investors continue to wait for progress to be made in fiscal cliff talks. Despite marginally bad wholesale inventory and business optimism index reports, stocks enjoyed a strong showing on Tuesday, as the Dow moved back above the mark it held on election day last month. On Wednesday the Dow extended its winning streak to six sessions, albeit with a very tiny gain, despite the Fed’s announcement that interest rates would remain very low as long as the unemployment rate stays above 6.5%. A larger than expected drop in jobless claims failed to spark the market on Thursday, as moderate losses brought stocks down. The week ended on Friday on another down note as the S&P 500 lost its weekly gains despite a lack of bad news on the day.
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