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Stocks trudged upwards enough to trade mostly flat entering midafternoon Wednesday. They had tumbled at the open as Europe’s leaders argued over how to best handle the eurozone’s debt issues.
Approaching 1 p.m. Eastern, The Dow Jones industrial average was up 27.89 points, or 0.23 percent, at 12,177.71. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 0.88 points, or 0.07 percent, at 1,257.59. The Nasdaq was 4.40 points lower, or 0.17 percent, at 2,645.08.
Traders hope European leaders will agree by Friday to link their budgets more closely. France and Germany have called on them to renegotiate Europe's founding treaties and allow a central European authority to enforce greater fiscal discipline.
Hopes for a deal dimmed Wednesday when a German official said the governments appear unlikely to reach a deal this week. The official said it could take until Christmas.
"The pattern has been, get your hopes up, then be disappointed by EU summits, and that pattern has been in place for a while," said Steve Van Order, fixed income strategist at Calvert Investment Management.
"I think the hopes (for a deal in the summit) are certainly still there. There's a belief in the marketplace that the euro zone doesn't have a death wish," said Art Hogan, managing director at Lazard Capital Markets in New York.
"There is today's news and we started the week with S&P threatening to downgrade. In another time the market would be down much more than it is."
Trading volume was very light, characteristic of the wait-and-see mode Hogan described ahead of the summit.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Stocks have tumbled due to the arguing over how best to handle Europe's debt business.
HERE'S A NEWS FLASH KIDDIES!You can't handle Europe's Debt Business it's too big, LET IT FALL!Then start over.It's that simple!
You're all are going to have to Bite The Bullet!
When one out four American children are going to bed hungry, and one percent of the population has virtually all the money in the country, something is wrong with that picture. I don't think anyone is going to take what you've earned and give it to anyone, unless you earn over a quarter of a million a year. Face it folks, people making over a quarter million a year aren't making posts on blogs like this. They've got you suckered into believing that they're going to take from you. I've got news for you, they are taking from you and not only are you not realizing it, you're asking them to take more.