WALL STREET JOURNAL, CNN (USA), REUTERS
Worldcrunch
European stocks and U.S. stock futures fell Friday after Republican House members canceled a vote on a tax bill intended to avert a massive budget crisis, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Republican lawmakers have rejected party leader John Boehner's proposal designed to win concessions from President Barack Obama in the "fiscal cliff" talks, explains Reuters.
Obama and Boehner at a happier moment, at 2011 State of the Union (White House)
Oil and gold prices slumped while German government bonds moved higher as investors grew concerned that time was running out for U.S. lawmakers to come to an agreement on a plan to avoid tax increases and spending cuts scheduled to take effect at the start of 2013, writes the Wall Street Journal.
Asian shares suffered their worst losses in five weeks, while the yen strengthened .
The FTSE 100 was down 0.7%, the DAX was down 0.4% and the CAC-40 was down 0.4%.
Congress now plans not to vote on budget issues until after Christmas, according to CNN.
