Flat open on Wall Street as budget talks loom

NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks are mixed in early trading on Wall Street as budget talks continue in Washington.

Discount retailer Big Lots soared 8 percent after beating analysts' earnings forecasts and raising its estimate for full-year earnings.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 13 points at 12,978 shortly after the opening bell Tuesday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up a fraction at 1,409 and the Nasdaq composite index fell two points to 2,999.

Pep Boys fell 9 percent after posting a loss on weak sales at the company's auto stores and rising costs.

In Washington, talks are proceeding on how to avoid a fiscal crunch of higher taxes and government spending cuts set to automatically kick in at the beginning of the year.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-12-04-Wall%20Street-Open/id-14ba41268a624068a22a32433d4bacd5

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