NEW YORK — The stock market ended higher Thursday after flipping between small gains and losses throughout the morning. Uncertainty about the "fiscal cliff," just little more than a week away, was top in the mind for many traders.

The Republican-controlled House pushed ahead with a bill aimed at averting the cliff, but President Barack Obama has threatened to veto it and Democratic leaders in the Senate vowed to let it die.


"Every time someone makes a speech, you get another move in the market," said Ben Fischer, founder of NFJ Investment Group in Dallas. "Everyone's just tracking it on a very short-term basis."

The Dow Jones industrial average fell as much as 36 points before ending the day higher, rising 59.75 points to close at 13,311.72. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 7.88 to 1,443.69, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 6.02 to 3,050.39.

In Washington, the Republicans offered, in their "Plan B," to raise taxes on the wealthy, but Democrats complained that the plan would not address the steep budget cuts that are automatically set to occur for military and domestic agencies.

If the Republicans and Democrats don't work out a compromise before the end of the month, the U.S. could go over the cliff, a reference to big tax increases and government spending cuts that would automatically kick in if no budget deal is in place. Some economists fear that would push the U.S. back into recession.
