July 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks pared losses as top Democrats planned a news conference, spurring optimism lawmakers were making progress with plans to raise the debt limit.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 0.9 percent at 1,319.70 at 11:32 a.m. in New York after retreating as much as 1.6 percent.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other top Democrats plan an 11:45 a.m. news conference today in Washington. Thus far today, House Republicans have no news conference planned.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael P. Regan at mregan12@bloomberg.net