Global stocks trading flat

New York: European shares and US futures climbed Thursday after US lawmakers moved to avert a government shutdown. Germany's DAX edged 0.1 per cent higher to 15,378.85, while the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.5 per cent to 6,593.48. In London, the FTSE 100 also gained 0.5 per cent, to 7,146.51. The future for the Dow industrials was 0.7 per cent higher, while that for the S&P 500 also rose 0.7 per cent.

Investors have had their eyes on Washington, where Democrats and Republicans in Congress have been wrestling over extending the nation's debt limit. Congress has moved to avert that crisis, with the Senate poised to approve legislation to fund the federal government into early December. The House was expected to approve the measure following a Senate vote Thursday, preventing a partial government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins Friday. If the limit, which caps the amount of money the federal government can borrow, wasn't raised by October 18, the country "would likely face a financial crisis and economic recession," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Congress on Wednesday.

Yellen's remarks came a day after Senate Republicans blocked consideration of a Bill that would have raised the debt limit. Asian shares were mostly higher, though Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index lost 0.3 per cent to 29,452.66 after the release of disappointing factory and retail sales data. Japanese investors appeared to take in stride the choice of former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida to head the ruling Liberal Democrats and thus become the next prime minister. Kishida is expected to boost government spending but keep in place most current policies aimed at supporting the world's third-largest economy.