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"We're not jumping in with both feet but we're selectively putting money to work," said Joseph Quinlan, chief market strategist for U.S. Trust Bank of America Private Wealth Management. "On the other side of the government shutdown, you've got continued support from the Fed and a global economy that's rebounding." Many investors still predict that the budget fight will be resolved before it spills over into a dispute about raising the nation's borrowing limit. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said last week that the government would run out of borrowing authority by roughly Oct. 17. The last time the borrowing limit, or debt ceiling, issue came up in August 2011, it led to a downgrade of the United States' credit rating by Standard & Poor's. The Dow went through nearly three weeks of triple-digits moves almost daily shortly thereafter. "To some extent investors are conditioned to a certain amount of drama and if we can get the drama behind us quickly it won't be a big deal," said Dean Junkans, Chief Investment Officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank. "If this goes beyond the middle of next week, the market will get increasingly more worried about the debt ceiling." In other stock trading, the Russell 2000, an index of small-company stocks, rose to a record level, a sign that investors are still willing to buy riskier assets despite the government slowdown. The Russell rose 13.64 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,087.43. In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year note rose to 2.65 percent from 2.61 percent late Monday. The price of oil fell 29 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $102.04 a barrel. Gold fell $40.90, or 3 percent, to settle at $1,286.10 an ounce. The dollar fell against the euro and the Japanese yen. Among other stocks making big moves: Walgreen rose $2.44, or 4.5 percent, to $56.24 after the drugstore chain said its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings soared 86 percent after it booked gains from its method of inventory accounting and its acquisition of a stake in European health and beauty retailer Alliance Boots. Ford gained 32 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $17.19 after the automaker said that U.S. sales rose 6 percent in September, with strong car sales making up for slower sales of SUVs.
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