Daily Data Flow: U.S. Stocks Fall; Budget Deficit Rises; Cisco Surges

U.S. Stocks Fall as Budget Debate Concern Erases Rally (Bloomberg)
U.S. stocks fell, halting a two-day gain in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as concern about the federal budget debate erased a rally led by Home Depot Inc. “The stock market is going to be captive to Washington for the time being,” said Michael Mullaney, who helps manage $9.5 billion as chief investment officer at Fiduciary Trust in Boston. “The market would like to go up a little bit from here after it has been beaten down, but it’s going to be hard pressed to sustain a rallying state until we have resolution on the fiscal cliff.”

Budget Deficit Rises to $120 Billion in October (Reuters)
The budget deficit rose in October, the first month of fiscal year 2013, as looming negotiations over expiring tax cuts and imminent spending reductions dominated the post-election political landscape. Growth in expenditures outpaced rising receipts, deepening the deficit. Outlays grew to $304 billion from around $262 billion in the same month last year, while receipts rose to $184 billion from $163 billion. The 2012 budget gap was $1.089 trillion, smaller than last year’s deficit of $1.297 trillion largely because of higher corporate income tax receipts and less spending.

Cisco Shares Surge After Hours Following Results (Marketwatch)
Cisco Systems Inc. shares popped higher Tuesday evening as the networking-equipment maker’s quarterly results were above Wall Street’s projections, while chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. threw cold water on speculation that it’s looking to be acquired. Cisco’s results followed warnings from several high-tech companies that weakness in the global economy will result in lower demand from consumers and corporate customers.