BANGKOK (AP) - Asian stocks tumbled today as hopes began to fade for a quick agreement among U.S. leaders to avoid a "fiscal cliff" that could derail the world's biggest economy.
Unless President Barack Obama and Congress reach a compromise, a series of expiring tax cuts and across-the-board spending reductions will take effect in 2013 - at a cost of about $800 billion. Economists say that could knock the U.S. economy back into recession.
A widely predicted leadership change in China didn't appear to impact stock markets one way or the other.
Benchmark crude oil fell slightly but remained above $86 per barrel. The dollar rose against the euro and the yen.
First Coast News