World Markets Get Boost as US Avoids Fiscal Cliff

World markets soared Wednesday after a tense New Year break, relieved after US lawmakers agreed a last-minute deal to avert massive tax hikes and pull their nation back from the fiscal cliff. Congress voted overnight on a stop-gap agreement to put on hold a massive package of tax hikes and spending cuts that had threatened to unleash economic and political turmoil and perhaps drive America back into recession.