The US Congress was moving closer to an
agreement on the 700 billion-dollar financial rescue plan, lawmakers said
Thursday, a day after a sombre US President George W Bush laid out the spectre
of a "long and painful recession", dpa
reported.
Republican presidential nominee John McCain, a senator from Arizona, said in
broadcast remarks he was confident there would be an agreement "before
markets open Monday morning."
Representative Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania told CNBC broadcaster that the
package was "basically done."
"The hard issues are resolved. They have to shake hands. They have to
smile and they have to have the photo set," he said.
After Wall Street opened Thursday morning, stocks were gaining across all three
indices after narrowing their decline on Wednesday, when high tech stocks even
increased for the first time in three days.
...