Economy|Financial MarketsStock markets surge after US lawmakers move to end government shutdownUS Senate vote to end shutdown delivers reprieve to investors worried about AI valuations and weakness in US economy.
Stocks from the United States to Japan have risen sharply amid hopes that an end to the longest US government shutdown in history is imminent.
Stocks from the United States to Japan have risen sharply amid hopes that an end to the longest US government shutdown in history is imminent.
US lawmakers on Sunday moved to end a five-week impasse over government funding , a boost for investors unnerved by signs of growing weakness in the US economy and the sky-high evaluations of firms involved in artificial intelligence.
Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4South Korea indicts ex-leader Yoon on charges of aiding the enemylist 2 of 4Lenny Wilkens, legendary NBA player and coach, dies at 88list 3 of 4Lewandowski hat-trick allows Barcelona to close in on Real Madridlist 4 of 4Where Amazon meets ocean: A Brazilian community fights rising tidesend of list After a group of centrist Democrats broke with party leaders to join Republicans, the US Senate voted 60-40 to advance a bill that would fund government operations through the end of January.
The funding package still needs to win final approval in the Senate and then pass the US House of Representatives, after which it would go to US President Donald Trump for his signature – a process expected to take days.
Stock markets in the Asia Pacific made large gains on Monday, while futures in the US also rose in advance of stock exchanges reopening.
South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI led the gains, rising about 3 percent as of 4pm local time (07:00 GMT).
Stocks from the United States to Japan have risen sharply amid hopes that an end to the longest US government shutdown in history is imminent.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng also rose sharply, advancing about 1.3 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.
Taiwan’s Taiex rose about 0.8 percent, while Australia’s ASX 200 gained about 0.75 percent.
Futures for the US’s benchmark S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq-100, which are traded outside of regular market hours, were up about 0.75 and 1.3 percent, respectively.
The reprieve comes as investors are concerned that AI-linked stocks may be wildly overvalued and that Trump’s sweeping tariffs could be doing more damage to the US economy than has been captured in headline data so far.
Advertisement Nvidia, whose graphics processing units are integral to the development of AI, last month became the first company in history to reach a market valuation of $5 trillion, a day after tech giant Apple surpassed $4 trillion in market value.
While the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ official jobs report has been suspended since August due to the government shutdown, several other analyses have pointed to a rise in layoffs in October.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an executive outplacement firm, said in a report last week that layoffs surged 183 percent last month, making it the worst October for jobs since 2003.
A separate analysis by Revelio Labs, a workforce analytics company, estimated that the economy shed 9,100 jobs during the month.
Based on reporting by Al Jazeera.