Asian shares pare gains as vote on U.S. tax bill delayed

Asian shares and the dollar pared their modest gains on Friday, with risk appetites supported by advances on Wall Street but capped by concern as investors awaited the U.S. Senate’s vote on U.S. tax reform legislation.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was nearly flat on the day, after brushing a two-week low. For the week, it was 2.6 percent lower. 

Late on Thursday, the Senate delayed voting on the bill as legislators wrestled with problems on an amendment sought by fiscal hawks to address a large expansion of the federal budget deficit projected to result from the measure.

On Wall Street overnight, major indexes marked gains, with sentiment lifted by apparent progress towards passage of the tax legislation. The S&P 500 SPX hit a record closing high and the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI topped the 24,000 mark for the first time.

On Thursday, chances of passage of a Senate tax bill had been seen as rising, when influential Senator John McCain gave the bill his endorsement. The House had approved its own tax bill on Nov. 16.

Yields also got a lift boost from U.S. data showing a rise in inflation and a decline in jobless claims, reinforcing expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hike interest rates later this month, and several times in 2018.

The 10-year Treasury yield US10YT=RR stood at 2.409 percent in early Asian trade, below its U.S. close on Thursday.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against a basket of six major rivals, edged 0.1 percent lower to 92.959 .DXY, though it was still up 0.2 percent for the week

The dollar was steady on the day 112.53 yen JPY= after touching 112.690 earlier, its highest since Nov. 21, moving away from a 10-week low of 110.85 yen hit on Monday. 

The euro was slightly up on the day at $1.1912 EUR=, though below its two-month peak of $1.1961 scaled on Monday. 

Bitcoin BTC=BTSP was down 2.4 percent at $9,707, holding above the previous session's low of $9,000, but well shy of this week's record high of $11,395. The cryptocurrency gained 55 percent in November. 

Crude oil futures built upon their gains made on Thursday after OPEC and non-OPEC producers led by Russia agreed to extend output cuts until the end of 2018, while also signalling a possible early exit from the deal if the market overheats

U.S. crude futures CLc1 were up 19 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $57.59 a barrel. For November, U.S. crude added 5.5 percent. 

Brent crude futures LCOc1 added 29 cents or 0.5 percent to $62.92 a barrel. Brent rose for a third consecutive month in November, gaining about 3.6 percent.

Gold prices edged higher after marking a 3-1/2 week low in the previous session. Spot gold XAU= was up 0.1 percent at $1,275.02 an ounce.