Stocks are higher today as the market gains hope for a debt ceiling deal. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he was hopeful a deal could be reached by the end of the week & he believed that there would be no default. The threat of a default had weighed down stocks so far this month, with $DIA down over 3% on the month.
For economic data today, housing starts rose 2.2% in April to an annual rate of 1.40 million. Single-family starts increased 1.6% to an annual rate of 846,000. Building permits fell 1.5% to an annual rate of 1.42 million due to a significant decline in multifamily permits.