Global Markets: Investors agonize as US teeters at edge of fiscal cliff
Financial markets across Asia and Western Europe were either closed or closing early on Monday, abandoning the field as the U.S. Congress and the White House battled it out for a solution to the impending "fiscal cliff".
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Market holidays were in force in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam, with half-day trading in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was effectively unchanged given the extensive market closures.
It has gained about 18 percent this year, a sharp turnaround from an 18 percent plunge in 2011.
In Washington, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate would resume sitting at 11 a.m. Washington time (1600 GMT), to continue discussions, but there were still significant differences between the two sides.
S&P 500 futures were up 5.6 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,389.40 in electronic trading at 0030 GMT. Dow and Nasdaq futures were also slightly higher on news the parties were still talking.
But traders said the rise in the futures market did not necessarily bode well for a Wall Street rally on Monday after the cash market and futures markets closed far apart on Friday.
"Hard to predict how or when there will be a deal, but I believe investors will show their displeasure tomorrow by selling stocks if there is no deal," said Mohannad Aama, managing director at Beam Capital Management, an investment advisory firm in New York.
The U.S. dollar was trading around 85.96-97, off its
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