Asian shares mixed as US stocks hover near record after shutdown ends

Asian shares traded mixed on Thursday after US stocks drifted near their records.

US futures edged higher, while oil prices declined.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 per cent to 51,139.48 as investors took heart as the US government shutdown finally ended.

President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill Wednesday night, ending a record 43-day shutdown 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.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.6 per cent to 26,766.71, while the Shanghai Composite index edged up 0.4 per cent to 4,016.24 as mainland stocks climbed ahead of updates on lending in China.

Australia's S&P ASX 200 fell 1 per cent to 8,715.00, 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, edging 0.1 per cent higher to 4,154.03.

Taiwan's Taiex index shed earlier gains, dropping 0.1 per cent, while India's BSE Sensex shed 0.2 per cent.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 added 0.1 per cent to 6,850.92, near its all-time high set a couple of weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.7 per cent to set a record for the second straight day, closing at 48,254.82. The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.3 per cent to 23,406.46.

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 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 largest losses in the S&P 500.

Similar questions about priciness are dogging the US market, though not as pointedly as for Big Tech and AI superstars.

In other dealings early Thursday, US benchmark crude oil fell 6 cents to USD 58.43 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 3 cents to USD 62.68 per barrel.

The US dollar rose to 154.83 Japanese yen from 154.70 yen. The euro slipped to USD 1.1589 from USD 1.1594.