Global Markets Rise as U.S. Lawmakers Race to Avoid Government Shutdown
By Dow Jones Newswires StaffGlobal stock markets and U.S. stock futures started the week mostly higher while the U.S. dollar eased as U.S. lawmakers race to avert a government shutdown. The shadow of that looms over important economic data releases this week, with any shutdown having the potential to knock off course policy signals from the Federal Reserve. Jobs data will be the center of attention, notably Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls figures for September, subject to what happens in Washington. President Trump is due to meet with lawmakers later on Monday to try to avoid a shutdown.Elsewhere, gold hit fresh record highs while oil benchmarks slipped.U.S. stock futures for the S&P 500 were up 0.4% and Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.4% early in European business hours, while Nasdaq futures climbed 0.5%.The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.3% in morning trading, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.4%.Stocks in Asia were mixed; Japan's Nikkei 225 index declined 0.7% with many big stocks trading ex-dividend. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.9%. China's benchmark Shanghai Composite gained 0.9%. South Korea's Kospi snapped a three-session losing streak to end up 1.3%.The dollar fell against a basket of currencies ahead of an expected redo of a Senate vote that will determine whether Congress will keep the government funded beyond Tuesday. Meanwhile, President Trump posted a cartoon picture on his Truth Social Platform at the weekend that depicted him firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell, fuelling concerns about the Fed's independence. The DXY dollar index was last down 0.2% to 97.941.U.S. Treasury yields declined late in Asian trade as markets await key U.S. labor data due this week, bar a government shutdown. Friday's nonfarm payrolls are preceded by JOLTS job openings, ADP private employment and Challenger job cuts data. For the September payrolls, analysts in the Wall Street Journal's poll forecast an addition of 45,000 jobs. The 10-year Treasury yield was last down 3.1 basis points to 4.155%, according to Tradeweb.In commodities, oil prices fell in early trade on growing fears of an impending supply glut, fueled by reports that OPEC+ might increase production once again and that Kurdistan resumed crude exports via Turkey. Brent crude was last down 1.1% to $68.45 a barrel, while WTI fell 1.2% to $64.91 a barrel. The European benchmark price for natural gas, the Dutch futures contract TTF, was down 1.4% to 32.25 euros a megawatt hour.Gold prices hit a fresh record high, boosted by the weaker U.S. dollar. Futures were recently up 0.9% to $3,844.90 a troy ounce after touching $3,848.80 earlier in the session. Copper continued to rise on supply concerns.Write to Barcelona Editors at [email protected]