NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks ended November on a down note Tuesday, notching their first monthly losses since August.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 46 points. It had been down as many as 110 points earlier in the day. The index pared most of its losses after President Barack Obama and Republican lawmakers promised to seek a compromise before the end of the year on extending Bush-era tax cuts.
Extending the cuts would motivate investors to hold stocks since they wouldn't be subject to higher capital gains taxes next year. It would also encourage companies to continue paying dividends, which are taxed at a more favorable rate.
The Dow ended November with a loss of 1 percent. It had rallied through September and October on hopes that a bond-buying program by the Federal Reserve would boost the economy.
The Dow reached its highest point of the year on Nov. 5, two days after the Fed announced its $600 billion economic stimulus plan. Stocks have fallen since then on worries about Europe's debt troubles. Ireland on Sunday became the second European country after Greece to require a bailout this year.
The euro briefly fell below $1.30 for the first time since mid-September after investors sold off government bonds from Spain, Portugal and Italy. The bailout of Ireland's banks hasn't been enough to assuage worries that other weak European countries will also need to be rescued.
John Briggs, a fixed income analyst at RBS, said the concerns about weak members of the euro zone are spreading faster than governments can react.
"It's becoming more of a system-wide issue and the currency decline continues to accelerate day after day," he said. "Until we get some kind of systemic response, it's likely to continue."
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 46.47, or 0.4 percent, to close at 11,006.02.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 7.21 or 0.6 percent, to 1,180.55. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 26.99, or 1.1 percent, to 2,498.23.
The S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent in November, the Nasdaq 0.4 percent.
