European Shares Seen Mostly Higher As US Averts Shutdown

(RTTNews) - European stocks look set to open mostly higher on Monday after the U.S. Congress passed a stopgap funding bill late on Saturday with overwhelming Democratic support to fund the government through November 17.

Lawmakers must now wrangle a separate bill on $24 billion in military assistance to Ukraine that Biden wanted in the budget.

Commodity-heavy U.K. markets may open on a weak note as investors react to sluggish factory activity data from China and Japan.

China's factory activity expanded at a slower pace in September, a private-sector survey showed on Sunday, while Japan's factory activity fell at the fastest pace in seven months in September.

Asian stocks traded mixed in thin trade, with markets in mainland China, Hong Kong and South Korea closed for holidays.

Japanese shares were rising as the yen hit a one-year low and the Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan survey showed an improvement in business sentiment.

Gold hit a seven-month low on dollar strength as traders braced for a slew of global manufacturing and U.S. job market data due later in the week.

New York Fed President John Williams said the central bank may be done with rate rises but policymakers should keep rates high for "some time" to bring inflation down to the 2 percent goal.

Oil prices were seeing modest gains to reverse some of Friday's losses ahead of the OPEC+ meeting on October 4.

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday to cap a brutal month as new data pointed to easing inflation and House GOP leaders failed to pass a short-term spending bill.

Treasury yields slipped after data showed core inflation based on the Fed's favorite inflation measure rose 3.9 percent year-on-year in August, marking the lowest in almost three years and down from 4.2 percent in July.

Personal income and spending rose in August while consumer confidence dropped again in September and a measure of Chicago business activity fell in the month, separate reports showed.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1 percent while the Dow dropped half a percent and the S&P 500 eased 0.3 percent.

European stocks rose broadly on Friday but posted steep losses for the July - September quarter on inflation and interest-rate concerns.

The pan European STOXX 600 advanced 0.4 percent after the release of positive Eurozone inflation and U.K. GDP data.

The German DAX rose 0.4 percent, France's CAC 40 edged up 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 finished marginally higher.