Asia-Pacific stocks edge mostly higher as Trump signs funding bill, ending U.S. government shutdown

Asia-Pacific shares mostly rose Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a funding bill into law, effectively ending the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.43% to close at 51,281.83. The Topix added 0.67% to 3,381.72, after hitting a record high of 3,389.12 earlier in the session.

Shares of SoftBank Group continued to fall for a second consecutive day, plunging 3.38%, after the Japanese giant said Tuesday it sold its entire $5.8 billion stake in Nvidia in October, to fund its OpenAI bet.

South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.49% in volatile trading to settle at 4,170.63, while the small-cap Kosdaq climbed 1.31% to 918.37.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 pared losses to 0.52% at 8,753.4 after the seasonally adjusted October unemployment rate eased to 4.3%, government jobs data showed Thursday. The latest reading was better than the 4.4% figure expected by Reuters-polled economists and compared with 4.5% in September.

The better-than-expected decline in October lowers expectations for a rate cut. The Australian dollar rose to 0.6556 against the greenback.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.56%, while the mainland’s CSI 300 advanced 1.21%.

India’s Nifty 50 climbed 0.47%.

U.S. equity futures ticked lower in early Asian hours after a continued market rotation powered the Dow Jones Industrial Average to record its first close above 48,000 Wednesday stateside.

Overnight, the 30-stock Dow closed up 326.86 points, or 0.68%, at 48,254.82. The index also hit a fresh all-time intraday high in the session. The S&P 500 traded around the flatline, settling up 0.06% at 6,850.92, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.26% to finish at 23,406.46.

— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.

Correction: This article was updated to accurately reflect the opening hours of South Korean markets.