Wall Street rode a wild roller-coaster yesterday as it clung to hope that Washington’s fumbling team might get back into formation and punt their way out of the fiscal cliff crisis.
Stocks nose-dived during the day over fears a budget deal was all but dead in the House, wiping nearly 150 points from the Dow Jones industrial average, and also dragging down the Nasdaq and Standard & Poor’s 500 index for double-digit setbacks.
But in the final minutes of trading — after stubborn House rebels abruptly reversed course and vowed to reconvene at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday for another try at a compromise — stocks swiftly recovered almost all their session losses.
Despite the market’s response, a deal remains far from certain, according to Cameron Hinds of Wells Fargo Private Bank.
“We would still say it’s a long shot that they would be able get something done by Monday,” Hinds said.
Optimistic market-watchers hoped the 6:30 p.m. sit-down — coming just two hours before the kickoff of the Washington Redskins game against the Dallas Cowboys — might also hasten an emergency remedy.
The Redskins were expected to draw most of the town’s political figures back to the nation’s capital for the win-and-in playoffs game.
Sunday also provides some lawmakers a face-saving chance to score public points and raise their low approval ratings with their pre-game session.
Despite trading upheavals, shares held onto their impressive gains for the year, with the Dow ahead 7.19 percent, the S&P up 12.76 percent and the Nasdaq gaining 14.62 percent.
The session closed with the Dow off 0.14 percent, or 18.28, for the day to 13,096.31, and the S&P down 0.12 percent, or 1.74, at 1,418.09.
The Nasdaq slipped 0.14 percent, or 4.25, to 2,985.91.