Market update: US stocks soar after fiscal cliff deal

US stocks rocketed yesterday as lawmakers passed a bill, ‘The American Taxpayer Relief Act’, and in doing so averted the so-called “fiscal cliff”, which threatened to derail economic recovery in the world’s largest economy. The S&P 500 Index posted its biggest gain in more than a year, jumping 2.5% for the day and 4.3% over two days, the most since November 2011. The Dow Jones moved up 2.4%, while the Nasdaq improved 3.1%. Apple and Facebook both climbed more than 3.2%, pacing gains for the technology sector as a whole.

Asia stocks edged higher on Thursday as hopes of a steady economic revival in China had a positive impact. The MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan Index rose 0.2% while the Hang Seng rose 0.4%.

European shares have declined in early morning trading. Concerns over the US budget deal’s ability to reduce the US government deficit have weighed on investor sentiment, bringing shares down from yesterday’s 17-month highs. The FTSE 100 and Euro Stoxx 50 Indices are down 0.1% and 0.5% respectively at the time of writing.