US stock index futures surge on fiscal deal

PARIS: US stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Wednesday after lawmakers passed a bill preventing huge tax hikes and spending cuts that had threatened to push the economy into recession.

Futures for the S&P 500 were up 1.7 percent, Dow Jones futures were up 1.2 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 1.3 percent at 1103 GMT.

The House of Representatives voted for a bill passed on Monday by the Senate that will raise taxes on wealthy individuals and families and preserve certain other benefits that will, together, soften some of the blow that would have been sustained without an agreement to avoid the "fiscal cliff."

Center>Copyright Reuters, 2013