“Asian stocks rose nearly two percent to hit a five-month high and the dollar fell as both houses of Congress passed a bill to end the ‘fiscal cliff’ crisis that threatened a U.S. recession and roiled world financial markets. European markets were set to rally on the news, with spreadbetters expecting London’s FTSE to rise about 1 percent and Frankfurt’s DAX to open up 0.5 percent. The Congress approved extending lower Bush-era tax rates to all but the nation’s wealthiest households in a budget deal that stopped automatic implementation of $600 billion in spending cuts and tax increases. The bill’s passage in Congress allayed earlier concerns over complaints from a number of Republicans that spending cuts were still not adequately addressed. “
Source:Asia stocks take off as US fiscal cliff crisis ends [501822328] | The Africa Report.com