Asian markets make tepid gains as US shutdown set to end

SINGAPORE – Stocks tiptoed forward at the start of Asian trading on Wednesday as the US Congress looked set to end the federal shutdown and traders looked for direction in the absence of clues from government data services.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1% in early trading as members of the House of Representatives prepared to vote on a measure that could restore funding to government agencies and end a shutdown that started on October 1 and is now the longest in US history.

Australian stocks led gains, advancing 0.2% as lithium miners drove commodity stocks higher, while Japan’s Topix jumped 0.6%.

“Sentiment improved after the US Senate passed a bill to end the longest US government shutdown on record,” analysts from Westpac wrote in a research report. “The House is expected to approve the bill in the coming days.”

S&P 500 e-mini futures ESc1 were trading flat after a mixed session for US stocks on Tuesday that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average rise 1.2% to reach a record close, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.3%.

In the absence of data from federal government agencies, traders focused on weekly jobs data from ADP on Tuesday, which showed private employers shed an average of 11,250 jobs a week in the four weeks ending on October 25.

Traders are increasing bets on further easing from the Federal Reserve. Fed funds futures are pricing an implied 68% probability of a 25-basis-point cut at the US central bank’s next meeting on December 10, compared to a 62% chance a day earlier, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was last down 0.2% at 99.451, trading near the lowest levels this month.

The US dollar was little changed against the yen at 154.13 and the euro at USD 1.1583.

Brent crude rose 1.6% to USD 65.09 per barrel, the highest since October 31, on the impact of the latest US sanctions on Russian oil and optimism over a potential end to the government shutdown, although oversupply concerns limited gains.

Gold was trading 0.4% higher at USD 4,141.35 per ounce.

Bitcoin was last up 0.4% at USD 103,074.41.

(Reporting by Gregor Stuart Hunter; Editing by Kim Coghill)