MANILA (PHILIPPINES): World shares mostly gained on Thursday after US stocks settled near their records and US President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill, ending the record 43-day shutdown.

The future for S&P 500 edged up 0.1 per cent while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 per cent ahead of the reopening of the federal government following the standoff 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

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