World shares are mostly higher after Trump signs bill ending US government shutdown

MANILA (PHILIPPINES): 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 shutdown.

The future for S&P 500 edged up 0.1 per cent while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 per cent 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 travellers 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 per cent to 24,374.90, while the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.7 per cent to 8,300.20. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.3 per cent to 9,881.42.

Asian shares were also mostly higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.4 per cent to 51,281.83. But market heavyweight and tech giant SoftBank Group lost another 3.4 per cent on top of a 3.5 per cent 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 per cent to 27,073.03, while the Shanghai Composite index jumped 0.7 per cent to 4,029.50 as mainland stocks climbed ahead of updates on lending in China.

Australia's S&P ASX 200 shed 0.5 per cent 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 per cent in October from 4.5 per cent in September.

South Korea's Kospi fluctuated between gains and losses, closing 0.5 per cent higher to 4,170.63.

Taiwan's Taiex index shed nearly 0.2 per cent while India's BSE Sensex added 0.2 per cent.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 added 0.1 per cent and the The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.7 per cent, setting a record for a second straight day, at 48,254.82. The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.3 per cent.

Shares in airlines jumped on expectations of a recovery in air travel following the end of the shutdown.

Advanced Micro Devices led the market, gaining 9 per cent after its CEO, Lisa Su, said the chip company expects better than 35 per cent of annual compounded revenue growth over the next three to five years. She credited “accelerating AI momentum.”

Stocks benefiting from the artificial-intelligence frenzy have been shaky recently, as investors question whether how much more they can add to already spectacular gains.

They are one of the top reasons the US market has hit records despite a slowing job market and high inflation. Their prices have shot so high, though, that critics say they're reminiscent of the 2000 dot-com bubble, which ultimately burst and dragged the S&P 500 down by nearly half.

Nvidia came into the day with a 4.6 per cent drop for the month so far, for example, after its stock price more than doubled in four of the last five years. The biggest player in AI chips swung between gains and losses throughout Wednesday. Palantir Technologies, another AI darling, fell 3.6 per cent for one of the day's larger losses in the S&P 500.

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 USD 58.31 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 16 cents to USD 62.55 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar fell to 154.55 Japanese yen from 154.70 yen. The euro rose to USD 1.1630 from USD 1.1594.