Stocks mostly rose, as investors saw signs of a progress in talks to avert the fiscal cliff. ADP U.S. private-sector employers added 118,000 jobs in November, slightly worse than expected, and smaller than the gain of 157,000 jobs in October. Also, nonfarm productivity rose 2.9% in the third quarter, its fastest pace in two years. Banks rose, with Citigroup surging 6.3%, after the co. announced plans to cut 11,000 jobs, or 4% of its workforce, to reduce costs. Tech stocks ended mixed, as a sell-off in Apple dragged the Nasdaq down. Apple fell 6.4% after IDC raised its outlook for sales of tablet computers, pointing to strong demand for iPad rivals made by Google, Amazon, Samsung and others. Meanwhile, Western Digital rose 7.3% after the co. announced accelerated $0.25 a share payment for shareholders. Pandora extended losses, losing 17.5%, a day after the co. gave a disappointing forecast for the current period.
