Investing.com – Wall Street opened higher on Thursday the likelihood of a tax reform bill continues to increases investor confidence.
The S&P 500 inched forward one points or 0.04% as of 10:10 AM ET (3:10 PM GMT) while the Dow composite was up 44 points or 0.18%. Tech heavy NASDAQ Composite rose eight points or 0.13%.
On Wednesday, the Senate voted to go to a conference committee with the house to negotiation the tax reform bill, giving investors hope that Congress will agree on a final bill before the Dec. 22 deadline. Meanwhile, worries over a government shutdown eased after the House extended funding through Dec. 22. If Congress cannot agree to spending legislation by Friday, parts of the government could start shutting down.
Chipmaker Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) was among the top gainers, rising 2.68% after it boosted its dividend by 75% and increased its long-term financial forecasts. Athletic apparel firmLululemon Athletica Inc (NASDAQ:LULU) gained 6.47% after its earnings results beat estimates. Meanwhile semiconductor Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) was up 2.72% and airplane maker Boeing (NYSE:BA) rose 1.41% while payment processor Square (NYSE:SQ) increased 4.02%.
Elsewhere Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) slipped 0.56%, while streaming device maker Roku Inc (NASDAQ:ROKU) lost 2.09% and Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) slipped down 0.39%.
Stocks in Europe were mostly up. In Germany the DAX surged 23 points or 0.18% while France’s CAC 40 was up one point or 0.02% and in London the FTSE 100 slipped 23 points or 0.32%. Meanwhile Spain’s IBEX 35 rose 45 points or 0.44% and the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 inched forward five points or 0.17%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.77% to $1,256.40 a troy ounce while crude oil futures rose 0.71% to 56.36 a barrel. The U.S dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rallied 0.10% to 93.62.