Asia stocks set for small gains as U.S. advances fiscal stimulus

Investors in Asia geared up for modest stock gains on Friday as U.S. legislators wrangled over a fiscal stimulus and negotiations over a Brexit trade deal continued. A $908 billion U.S. coronavirus aid plan gained momentum in U.S. Congress on Thursday, buoying U.S. markets.

"The U.S. fiscal situation is pretty fluid, but it`s more encouraging than in the beginning of the week," said Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank in Sydney. "But there`s too much uncertainty to do anything with a great degree of confidence."

The European Union and Britain continued trying to secure a Brexit trade deal, with diverging views on how far off the sides were from a deal.

MSCI`s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.02%. Australia`s S&P ASX 200 rose 0.26%.

Japan`s Nikkei 225 futures added 0.13% and Hong Kong`s Hang Seng index futures were flat.

Wall Street stocks were mixed, with the Nasdaq closing at a record high, lifted by Tesla Inc, while the S&P 500 fell after a report that Pfizer Inc had slashed the target for the rollout of its COVID-19 vaccine.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.29%.

The dollar cratered on Thursday to its weakest level in more than 2-1/2 years as signs of progress toward U.S. fiscal stimulus and optimism about COVID-19 vaccines kept investors hopeful.

U.S. Treasury yields fell as the market looked ahead to the November employment coming Friday.

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An agreement among major oil producers to a slight increase in production lifted Brent crude prices by 1% to their highest since early March on Thursday.