Stocks ended higher, as investors grew optimistic that the Federal Reserve may announce more stimulus. Meanwhile, investors continue to wait for a resolution to fiscal cliff negotiations. German investor sentiment in December rose sharply; Greece is due to announce the results of a debt buyback later, triggering the disbursement of the next installment of its EU-IMF bailout funds. On the domestic front, trade deficit widened to $42.2 billion in October, wholesale inventories rose 0.6% in October, better than forecasts. Also, HSBC said early Tuesday it will pay $1.92 billion to resolve money-laundering allegations. Delta Air Lines rose 5.1% after it agreed to acquire a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic Airways from Singapore Airlines. Tech sector led the market higher with Apple and Texas Instruments gaining 2.2% and 4.0% respectively. ISI Group cited Unicom’s, China’s second-largest wireless carrier, announcement of more than 300,000 preorders for the iPhone 5 set to go on sale Friday. In the evening trade Facebook shed a notch in active trading, as the shares were moving into the Nasdaq-100 Index before trading opens on Wednesday.
