The proposed U.S. tax bill inched closer to passing on Monday, encouraging U.S. stock indexes to close at record highs and nudging Asian markets higher at the start of Tuesday’s Asian trading session. The House of Representatives vote on the tax proposal will begin later on Tuesday and the Senate vote will continue on Wednesday, with legislators pushing President Trump to confirm the bill as law by the end of the week. Republican Senator Susan Collins has announced her intent to support the bill, a critical vote which analysts believe will ensure the bill’s passing.
The Nasdaq broke through the 7,000-point briefly on Monday before closing at 6,994.76. In addition to optimism about the tax bill, U.S. indexes were buoyed by several big deals on Monday that kept investors interested in stock purchases.
Though South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.20 percent as of 10:45 a.m. HK/SIN, most Asian stock markets were notably higher. Australia’s ASX 200 gained 0.57 percent in the early morning while the Shangai Composite gained 0.30 percent.
Despite excitement reverberating in the stock markets, the dollar struggled on Tuesday morning as doubts continued as to whether the tax reform’s repatriation clauses would have negative impacts on the dollar and the repatriation of funds. The dollar was slightly lower against the euro, trading at $1.1788, while pared gains against the yen, trading at 112.59 after reaching 112.840 overnight. The dollar was unchanged against the safe haven Swiss franc.