Stocks mostly rise on hopes of US shutdown deal, rate cut

World stock markets mostly rose on Wednesday on optimism the US government shutdown was nearing an end and on hopes of another Federal Reserve interest rate cut.

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Wall Street stocks edged ahead after the opening bell ahead of a congressional vote expected to reopen the government after the longest shutdown ~ six weeks ~ in US history.

The House of Representatives appeared likely to vote Wednesday on a spending bill to solve the budget standoff, after eight Democrats broke ranks in the Senate on Monday.

Around 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added around 0.8 per cent while the broad-based S&P 500 added 0.3 per cent, while the tech-rich Nasdaq edged into the red after several days of gains.

Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments said the market needed concrete signals about the economy after the shutdown resulted in a dearth of economic data.

"Investors are going to wait for the next bullish catalyst, which could be Nvidia, arguably the most important Al stock out there right now,” Sarhan said. The chipmaker is set to report earnings on November 19 Paris and Frankfurt both gained just over one per cent, while London was up 0.3 per cent.

In Asia, Hong Kong and Tokyo ended higher but Shanghai edged lower.

“The prospect of an end to the US government shutdown later today is fuelling demand for risk assets,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB.