Mark Brooks

Traders have been worried that lawmakers won't reach a deal in time to avoid a series of steep tax increases and government spending cuts that are set to kick in at the beginning of next year unless the White House and Congress agree on how to reduce the budget deficit.

Benchmark crude for February delivery was down 18 cents to $89.80 in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

But the legislation looked to be a dead letter in the Senate and earned a White House veto threat.

The IMF said Thursday the 27-member group still faces great challenges "with continuing banking and sovereign debt crises" which require a region-wide solution because of its heavily interconnected banks.

Germany's Ifo institute said its confidence index rose to 102.4 in December from 101.4 the month before.

Corn for March delivery fell 17 cents to finish at $7.03 a bushel Wednesday. That's the lowest since July 6.

The budget incorporates deep spending cuts and tax increases that were agreed in talks with the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The price is less than a penny more than at this time last year.

The annual joint commission on commerce and trade meeting comes weeks after President Barack Obama's re-election and the elevation of new leaders of China's ruling Communist Party.

Obama and Boehner have yet to produce a compromise.

Gradiente SA says in a statement that in 2008 the government gave it the right to use the brand on its cellphones.

Obama cast a resolution to the "fiscal cliff" as a matter of political will.

Benchmark crude jumped $1.38 to $89.78 per barrel in New York.

Boehner, R-Ohio, proposed his so-called Plan B on Tuesday, a measure that would block tax cuts from being triggered Jan. 1 on everyone but those whose incomes exceed $1 million.

The euro rose to $1.3220 late Tuesday from $1.3160 late Monday. The euro rose as high as $1.3238 earlier, its highest point against the dollar since May 2.

Gold for February delivery fell $27.50 to finish at $1,670.70 an ounce.

Concessions on both sides of the aisle have spurred optimism that a deal will be reached to avert the series of spending cuts and tax increases that take effect on Jan. 1.

It's not clear that anything substantive has changed in Instagram's new terms of service, which were posted Monday and go into effect Jan. 16.

The new tax proposal is contained in a broader plan that Obama gave Boehner Monday that would cut spending further and lower cost-of-living increases for most Social Security beneficiaries.

A commissioner, Thilo Weichert, ordered Facebook on Monday to rescind its real name policy immediately.