US stocks close higher as House strikes deal on funding bill

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US stocks closed higher Thursday to rebound from the previous day's losses after the House of Representatives reached a deal on a funding bill that would avoid a government shutdown.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 617 points, or 1.82%, to 34,639. The blue chip index lost 461 points Wednesday.

The S&P 500 rose 64 points, or 1.42%, to 4,577 after falling 54 points in the previous session.

The Nasdaq jumped 127 points, or 0.83%, to end the day at 15,381. The tech-heavy index was off 283 points the day before.

House lawmakers reached a deal earlier on a short-term funding bill that would avoid a shutdown a day before the deadline and keep the government funded until Feb. 18. The Senate now has to approve the spending bill by midnight Friday to prevent a shutdown.

Despite climbing above 30 on Wednesday for the first time since March, the VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, was down 10.2% to 27.95.

The dollar index was up 0.11% to 96.14, while the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes gained 0.24% to 1.438%.

Crude prices were up almost 2%, with Brent crude trading at $70.06 per barrel and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude at $66.91.

Precious metals were mixed, with gold losing 0.74% to $1,768 an ounce but silver increasing 0.33% to $22.39.