London — World markets offered a muted reception on Thursday to the passage of US tax cuts as potential benefits to company bottom lines were already priced in, while bonds were spooked by the blowout in government debt needed to fund the giveaways. An election in Catalonia, which has become a de facto referendum on its independence movement, was another test for European assets late in the year, though there was only modest stress in Spain’s markets and none on the euro. "It [the Catalan election] cannot be ignored going into year end," said Orlando Green, European fixed income strategist at Credit Agricole. "But the secession movement has been significantly diminished and would need a decisive move to revive it." Madrid’s IBEX was down 0.6%, compared to falls of between 0.1% and 0.3% for the eurozone’s other major bourses which were showing the effects of subdued sentiment in Asia and Wall Street overnight. In US President Donald Trump’s first major policy win, Republicans steamro...
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