NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks ended flat Monday after expectations that a tax-cut package will pass the Senate kept them higher for much of the day.
Other indexes took a late afternoon spill. The Dow Jones industrial average closed with a gain of 18.24, or 0.16 percent, to 11,428.56, having been up as many as 70 points earlier. The Dow is now just 15.52 points from its 2010 closing high, reached Nov. 5.
The tax-cut compromise brokered by the White House and Republicans was scheduled for its first Senate vote late Monday.
If enacted, the package will extend tax cuts passed during the Bush administration for all income levels for another two years. It will also extend unemployment benefits through next year and put in place a one-year reduction in Social Security taxes.
Economists expect the nearly $900-billion tax package to boost economic growth and increase the size of the budget deficit. House Democrats have pledged to block the measure unless tax rates rise for the nation’s wealthiest estates.
Traders were also encouraged by a handful of deals announced Monday. General Electric Co. is paying $1.3 billion to buy British oilfield company Wellstream Holdings Plc and Dell Inc. is spending $960 million for network storage company Compellent Technologies Inc.
The S&P 500 index eked out a new 2010 high for the fourth time in four days. The index rose 0.06 point to 1,240.46.
The Nasdaq composite index fell 12.63, or 0.5 percent, to close at 2,624.91. That snapped a six-day streak in which the index notched new 2010 highs.
Falling shares and rising ones were almost evenly matched on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was 963 million shares.
The tax plan has crushed the prices of Treasury bonds since it was announced last Monday. The yield of 10-year Treasurys rose to 3.36 percent early Monday before falling to 3.28. Treasurys reversed course after the Federal Reserve bought $7.8 billion in government bonds coming due between 2016 and 2017. Treasury yields have been mainly rising over the past month.