Asian shares tick up, dollar wobbles as investors ponder Trump's tax bill

By Rocky Swift

TOKYO (Reuters) -Asian shares crept higher and the dollar languished near multi-year lows on Tuesday as markets awaited a vote over U.S. President Donald Trump's landmark tax and spending legislation.

Global share markets rallied to an intraday record on the previous day on trade optimism, but a marathon debate in the Senate over a bill estimated to add $3.3 trillion to the United States' debt pile weighed on sentiment.

Japan's Nikkei gauge of shares sank as much as 1.3% as the yen climbed against the dollar, a negative for exporters' earnings. Oil fell for a second consecutive session and gold advanced.

A vote on Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill had been expected during the Asian trading day on Tuesday, but debate raged on over a long series of amendments by Republicans and the minority Democrats.

Trump wants the bill passed before the July 4 Independence Day holiday. As global trade negotiators scramble to get deals done before Trump's tariff deadlines, investors are also anticipating key U.S. labour market data on Thursday.

"Trade is front and centre this week, but alongside that, we've obviously got the fate of the 'One Big Beautiful Bill', which is currently being debated in the Senate," said Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at the National Australia Bank.

Payrolls data later in the week "does have significant bearing, I think, on sentiment towards the potential timing of Fed rate cuts," he added in a podcast.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 0.4%, led by South Korea's Kospi gauge rising 1.1%.

Fresh readings from the Bank of Japan's tankan index of business sentiment and a Chinese gauge of factory activity indicated the biggest economies in the region were probably weathering the tariff storm for now.

Japan's manufacturing activity also bounced to growth for the first time in over a year, but significant weakness in demand underlined the challenging trade outlook for Asia's export-reliant economies.

China's blue-chip CSI300 Index edged up 0.1%, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.2%.

The dollar dropped 0.2% to 143.79 yen. The greenback was little changed against the European single currency and earlier touched $1.1808, the weakest since September 2021.

U.S. crude dipped 0.5% to $64.80 a barrel, weighed by expectations of an OPEC+ output hike in August. Spot gold rose 0.6% to $3,322.62 per ounce.

Pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures edged up almost 0.1% while German DAX futures rose 0.2%.

(Reporting by Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Editing by Sonali Paul)