US Fiscal Cliff Deal Sends Brent Soaring

Brent crude oil rocketed above $112 on Wednesday morning after an 11th hour fiscal cliff deal in the US. Fears that the number one oil consumer would slip into recession were eased as US lawmakers came to an agreement to avert the $600 billion package of tax increases and spending cuts. The commodity traded at $112.06 at 7:19 GMT. The deal was approved by congress in the early hours of 2013, and includes a tax increase for the wealthiest Americans, something Republican lawmakers fought hard against. With the fiscal cliff issue resolved there was a great deal of relief in the markets, but many are expecting gains from the news to be short lived. Next the US will need to tackle the upcoming debt-ceiling, an issue that divided the nation last year. President Obama has vowed to avoid a repeat of last year's debt-ceiling crisis, but after the fiscal cliff negotiation trouble, investors are likely to be tentative. Chinese data also lent support to Brent prices. Over the course of the past three months, China's economy has shown signs of improvement and Wednesday's Purchasing Managers Index data continued the momentum. According to Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

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