The credit rating agency lowered the city's rating to double-C from B-minus, a sharp four-notch downgrade.

Despite divisions in the Republican party, the tax cuts being discussed seem possible to pass and could stimulate growth, say strategists.

"It would be imprudent to keep monetary policy on hold until inflation is back to

Altria's earnings will benefit from recent price hikes and the valuation is attractive, analysts find.

Zillow Chief Economist Svenja Gudell called the gains amid a slowing volume of sales, "a strange kind of twilight zone."

Fashion retailing giant H&M has opened over 40 new stores this year in the U.S. and China, the two markets shifting most rapidly online.