• Regional stocks up after mixed session in US yesterday
  • Bets of a Fed cut firm up as ADP data shows job losses mounting
  • Oil prices at highest level this month on sanctions

SINGAPORE, Nov 12 — Stocks tiptoed forward at the start of Asian trading today 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 per cent 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 per cent as lithium miners drove commodity stocks higher, while Japan’s Topix jumped 0.6 per cent.

“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 were trading flat after a mixed session for US stocks on Tuesday that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average rise 1.2 per cent to reach a record close while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.3 per cent.

In the absence of data from federal government agencies, traders focused on weekly jobs data from ADP yesterday 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 per cent probability of a 25-basis-point cut at the US central bank’s next meeting on December 10, compared to a 62 per cent 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 per cent 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 US$1.1583 (RM4.78).

Brent crude rose 1.6 per cent to US$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 per cent higher at US$4,141.35 per ounce. — Reuters