World shares mostly gained on Thursday after US stocks settled near their records and US President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill, ending the record 43-day record shutdown.
The future for S&P 500 edged up 0.1% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% ahead of the reopening of the federal government following the standoff that caused financial stress for federal workers who went without paychecks, stranded scores of travelers at airports and generated long lines at some food banks.
“The shutdown had blocked not just spending, but also delayed a raft of federal economic data,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary, adding that “for markets, the only line that matters is simple: the lights are coming back on.”
In early European trading, Germany’s DAX slipped less than 0.1% to 24,374.90, while the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.7% to 8,300.20. Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 0.3% to 9,881.42.
Asian shares were also mostly higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.4% to 51,281.83. But market heavyweight and tech giant SoftBank Group lost another 3.4% on top of a 3.5% drop on Wednesday after the company said it had sold all of its shares in computer chip maker Nvidia.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.6% to 27,073.03, while the Shanghai Composite index jumped 0.7% to 4,029.50 as mainland stocks climbed ahead of updates on lending in China.
Australia’s S&P ASX 200 shed 0.5% to 8,753.40, falling for a third straight session as hopes for near-term interest rate cuts were quashed by strong jobs data that showed unemployment falling to 4.3% in October from 4.5% in September.
South Korea’s Kospi fluctuated between gains and losses, closing 0.5% higher to 4,170.63.
Taiwan’s Taiex index shed nearly 0.2% while India’s BSE Sensex added 0.2%.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 added 0.1% and the The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.7%, setting a record for a second straight day, at 48,254.82. The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.3%.
Similar questions about prices are dogging much of the US market, though not as pointedly as for Big Tech and AI superstars.
In other dealings early Thursday, US benchmark crude oil fell 18 cents to $58.31 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 16 cents to $62.55 per barrel.
The US dollar fell to 154.55 Japanese yen from 154.70 yen. The euro rose to $1.1630 from $1.1594.
