Stocks Rally before White House Budget Talks

U.S. stocks began sharply higher on Thursday as House GOP leaders readied to meet with President
Barack Obama for the first time since the start of the government shutdown now in a 10th day. The
Dow Jones Industrial Average lately added 175.42 points, or 1.19%, to 14,978.40. The S&P 500 index
advanced 20.92 points, or 1.261%, to 1,677.32. The Nasdaq Composite gained 58.42 points, or 1.59%,
to 3,736.20.

Top House Republicans prepared to head to the White House Thursday to discuss the issues underlying
the standoff that has resulted in the nine-day partial government shutdown and that now threatens
the country’s ability to borrow.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Thursday that gridlock in Washington was hurting the U.S.
economy and urged Congress to raise a cap on government borrowing to keep America from defaulting
on its debt.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits hit a six-month high last week
amid a computer glitch in California, but the underlying trend pointed to a steadily improving
labor market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 66,000 to a seasonally
adjusted 374,000, the highest level since the end of March, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

China accelerated plans to internationalise its currency on Thursday by agreeing to swap euros and
yuan with the European Central Bank in a deal that is set to be China’s second-largest to date. The
bilateral currency swap agreement between the European Central Bank (ECB) and the People’s Bank of
China (PBOC) is valid for three years and has a maximum size of 350 billion yuan, or 45 billion
euros (38.1 billion pounds).