Stocks pop after Obama, GOP agree on taxes

NEW YORK (AP) — A compromise plan to extend tax cuts for all Americans is giving stocks a lift but is sending bond prices lower.

U.S. stocks are heading higher today after President Barack Obama announced an agreement with Republicans Monday night to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for two years, while also renewing unemployment benefits and granting a one-year reduction in Social Security taxes.

The deal still requires Congressional approval. Yet it gives investors encouragement, because tax cuts were set to expire at the end of the year.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones industrial average is up 62, or 0.6 percent, to 11,424. The Standard and Poor’s 500 index is up 4, or 0.3 percent, to 1,230. The Nasdaq composite index is up 28, or 1.41 percent, to 2,622.