S&P 500 Positive After McConnell Offers Short-Term Debt-Limit Deal

The S&P 500 is trading higher after Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell offered Democrats an option to pass an emergency debt-limit extension to cover spending until December. The index had been down as much as 1.3% on resurgent concerns about inflation and a potential U.S. government debt default.

The benchmark gauge was up 0.2% as of about 2:40 p.m. in New York. Eight of the 11 major industry groups were higher, with utilities and consumer staples leading advancers, while the energy and materials sectors led decliners. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index gained 0.5% while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2%.