US stocks surged as lawmakers agreed to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling

U.S. stocks soared, as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index jumped close to a record, amid lawmakers deal to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling before deadline.

The S&P 500 gained 1.4% to 1,721.54 till 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 205.82 points, or 1.4%, to 15,373.83. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 1.2% to the highest level since 2000. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index lost 21%, reaching the lowest level in two years. About 6.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 11% above the three-month average.

“Almost everyone assumed this would come together before the deadline,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at brokerage BTIG, cited by The Wall Street Journal. “To the extent that nervousness in the market falls to the sidelines, thats good for stocks.”

Some investors warned that even if Congress approves the measure, U.S. fiscal issues will be far from solved. The Senate plan would fund federal agencies at current levels of spending through January 15 and extend the nations borrowing authority through February 7. Fitch Ratings late Tuesday put the U.S. sovereign credit rating under review for a downgrade, pointing to prolonged negotiations over the debt ceiling.

In corporate news, FedEx Corp. surged 2.7% to a record of $123.26, adding to yesterday’s 4.1% advance. The operator of the world’s largest cargo airline authorized a buyback plan of as many as 32 million shares, its biggest repurchase program in history of the company.

Bank of America jumped 2.3% to $14.56 after reporting third-quarter earnings that exceeded expectations, as net-interest income and investments improved and credit charge-offs eased.

Intel gained despite providing downbeat sales outlook for the current quarter. The company also said it was a quarter behind in its plan to start volume production of the latest technology chips, but reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings, revenue and gross margin.

IBM slid 5.8% to $175.99 in after-trade. After the close, the largest technology consulting company reported its sixth straight quarter of falling sales amid sluggish demand for computer hardware and the decline of one-time growth markets.