There seems to a collective sigh of relief. The full force of the US fiscal cliff that could have dragged the world's largest economy into a recession has been averted, even though the results do not seem particularly satisfactory as the debt ceiling and spending cut decisions have been postponed for several weeks. Global equity markets have begun the year with a bang. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index jumped a bit more than 1%, though the Japanese market remains closed for the holiday. European bourses are around 2%, with the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 up 1.7% near midday in London, led by basic materials, technology and ... (full story)