New York Stock Exchange


Traders wear 2013 New Year's party glasses while they work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
(Allison Joyce / Getty Images / December 31, 2012)







































































Stocks soared 2% Wednesday in the first trading of 2013, after Congress' last-minute passage of a plan to avert the brunt of the so-called fiscal cliff.


The Dow Jones industrial average was up 234 points, or 1.8%, to 13,338 shortly after the opening bell on Wall Street.


Wednesday morning's rally follows the Dow's 1.3% jump late in trading on New Year's Eve on signs of an emerging deal between President Obama and congressional leaders.





The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index jumped 29 points, or 2%, to 1,455 in early trading Wednesday.


The technology-heavy Nasdaq rose 79 points, or 2.6%, to 3,099.


Wall Street's rally followed similar surges in major stock markets in Asia and Europe on Wednesday.


However, Washington's New Year's Day deal likely won't mean the end of volatility in equities markets in coming weeks.


Obama and Congress put off some of the most contentious issues surrounding the fiscal cliff debate, including broad spending cuts to defense and government social programs. The debate over the "debt ceiling" borrowing limit could also rattle markets.


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