NEW YORK (AP) — With barely a week to go before $85 billion in automatic government spending cuts kick in, Wall Street is holding its nerve.

The Dow Jones industrial average has gained 6.8 percent since the start of the year as investors largely ignored the latest installment of Washington’s budget drama. The Dow Jones climbed close to its record level at the start of the month and the Standard & Poor’s 500 notched up a streak of seven straight weeks of gains, before easing back this week. Even after its weekly loss of 0.3 percent, it’s still up 6.3 percent this year.