Stocks finish higher... Oil prices fall... House passes farm bill

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks couldn't hang on to a big gain today, but they still finished broadly higher. That helped reverse some of the market's big losses from the week before. The S&P 500 index rose 14 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,651. The Dow gained 157 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 24,527. The Nasdaq composite jumped 66 points, or 0.9 percent, to 7,098. And the Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks added 15 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,455.

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices are down a bit. Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 1 percent to $52.15 a barrel in New York today. Meanwhile, Brent crude, the international standard, lost 0.1 percent to $60.15 per barrel in London. In other energy futures, wholesale gasoline dipped 1.3 percent to $1.42 a gallon and heating oil was unchanged at $1.85 a gallon. And natural gas dropped 6.1 percent to $4.14 per 1,000 cubic feet.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has easily passed the farm bill, a massive legislative package that reauthorizes agriculture programs and food aid. The bill reauthorizes agriculture and conservation programs, funds trade programs, expands support for struggling dairy farmers and legalizes the cultivation of industrial hemp. The legislation has already passed the Senate and is now headed to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey's sports betting market is closing in on the $1 billion dollar mark after less than six months of operation. Figures released today by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement show New Jersey's casino and racetrack-based sports books took in over $330 million worth of bets in November. Gamblers in the state have plunked down $928 million on sports events since sports betting began in mid-June.

MOJAVE, Calif. (AP) — Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is gearing up to finally send its rocket ship to the edge of space. If successful, it would be a major step toward the dream of commercial space tourism. The next test flight could come as early as Thursday with the rocket-powered spacecraft soaring high above California's Mojave Desert. Hundreds of people have signed up to pay as much as $250,000 for a supersonic thrill ride on the six-passenger spaceship.