U.S. stock index futures held small gains Thursday following the weekly jobless claims report and as President Barack Obama and members of Congress headed back to Washington to resume talks over the looming "fiscal cliff."
Obama cut short his Christmas vacation in Hawaii to deal with the deadlocked talks between Democrats and Republicans on what to do with $600 billion in tax increases and automatic spending cuts, due to kick in on Jan. 1. With less than a week remaining this year, time is now running out and the pressure on politicians to find a solution is building, as U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned the U.S. will hit the debt ceiling on Monday, Dec. 31.
The two sides could work towards a "mini-deal" to postpone the effects of the fiscal cliff by extending tax cuts for taxpayers with incomes below $250,000, postponing the automatic spending cuts, and extending unemployment benefits.
