SINGAPORE, Nov 13 (Reuters) – Stocks and gold paused for breath on Thursday at the end of the longest government shutdown on record, with markets turning to the resumption of U.S. economic data to gauge the rates outlook.
U.S. stock futures meandered from slightly negative to 0.2% firmer through the Asia session. Small gains for FTSE and European futures suggest further record highs could be in store for the cash indexes later in the day.
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Gold hung on to recent gains and traded above $4,200 while bonds were steady with the U.S.10-year yield at 4.09%.
Delayed economic data will likely trickle out next week, economists expect, and the focus is on whether it will back up private surveys that have shown softness in the job market.
“One of the arguments now is with reopening, we should get a lot of data coming through that will give more clarity for (Federal Reserve Chair Jerome) Powell to say: ‘I’m cutting rates because of this,'” said Damian Rooney, director of institutional sales at Perth-based stockbroker Argonaut.
“It means these guys are making a lot of lolly in Aussie dollar terms. I think we’ve got a bit more legs there,” Rooney said. Most other sectors fell in Australia and the index was 0.5% lower.
YEN SQUEEZED
Japan’s yen has come under renewed pressure as the country’s new premier has been pushing the central bank to go slow on rate rises. It hit a record low of 179.49 per euro and was near a nine-month trough on the dollar at 154.92.
The yen touched 155.05 against the dollar on Wednesday, prompting the finance minister to remind traders the government was watching closely in a prelude to possible intervention in the market.
Elsewhere in foreign exchange trade the Australian dollar ticked higher after data showed a surge in employment in October, bolstering a view that the easing cycle there may have run its course.
The Aussie was up about 0.3% at $0.6558 and expectations of a cut in May dropped from nearly 70% to 32%.
Brent crude futures inched down to a three-week low of $62.34 a barrel after OPEC shifted its projection to forecast a small surplus to demand in the world oil market for 2026.
Reporting by Tom Westbrook in Singapore; Editing by Sonali Paul and Shri Navaratnam
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