By Marc Jones and Tom Westbrook LONDON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) -World stocks were eyeing a return to record highs on Thursday at the end of the longest U.S. government shutdown on record, while an increasingly squeezed Japanese yen hit a record low versus the euro and a nine-month trough against the dollar. Europe's STOXX 600 was having a tricky day with a near 1% jump from France's CAC 40 initially nudging both indexes to all-time peaks before profit taking and a 5% tumble by German engineering giant Siemens dragged it into the red. [.EU] U.S. stock futures meandered from slightly negative to 0.2% firmer, although MSCI's 47-country All World Index was still clinging on to hopes of a fourth consecutive daily gain. U.S. President Donald Trump signed the bill to end the government's shutdown in the Oval Office on Wednesday. Delayed economic data is expected to start trickling out next week. October's payrolls figures could be the first to land with the focus on whether they will back up the recent privately-run surveys that have shown softness in the job market. "We are waiting for the data fog to clear, but the one thing we can say from PriceStats data is that inflation is rolling over so it will be all about the jobs data, and that will be the driver of risk sentiment," State Street Global Markets' Michael Metcalfe said. SQUEEZED YEN There was action in currency markets too, with the dollar drifting lower and Japan's yen under renewed pressure after the country's new premier had made an appeal on Wednesday for the Bank of Japan to go slow on rate rises. [FRX/] The yen hit a record low of 179.49 per euro in Asian trading and was near a nine-month trough on the dollar at 154.66 despite Wednesday's reminder from the finance minister that the government was watching the currency closely. Japan's Nikkei had closed up 0.4% and the broad Topix set an all-time high as investors shifted portfolios from the frothiest artificial intelligence firms to buy exposure to other parts of the economy. [.T] "There is still a debate about whether the BoJ will tighten rates by year-end. Our inclination is that they will, but there is a strong market narrative that is proving hard to break that policy settings will encourage a weaker yen," State Street's Metcalfe added. A bright spot in pre-market U.S. trading was a 7% leap in Cisco shares after the company raised its full-year profit forecast on signs the artificial intelligence boom is boosting demand for its data servers. Tech and AI stocks have been under pressure lately as investors have rotated out of the priciest firms into traditionally defensive areas such as healthcare and consumer staples. Five-trillion-dollar AI chip juggernaut Nvidia releases its latest earnings next week which could further test the sector. Elsewhere, gold hung on to recent gains and traded above $4,200 while benchmark government bonds were a touch weaker with the U.S. 10-year yield edging up to 4.10% and Germany’s 10-year yields up at 2.67%. OIL SPILLS Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated slightly from a one-month high and the Shanghai Composite rose 1% ahead of credit and retail sales data due later this week. In London, the mining-heavy FTSE 100 also drooped from Wednesday's all-time peak although Europe's tech stocks climbed 0.6% as ASML and Infineon showed signs of recovery from steep losses incurred last week. [.L][.EU] Britain's pound shrugged off data showing its economy was barely growing and Scotland getting its own credit rating, while the Australian dollar ticked higher as strong employment figures bolstered bets the rate-cutting cycle there may be over. Brent crude futures rose off a three-week low to $63.33 a barrel a day after OPEC's new forecast of a small surplus to demand in the world oil market for 2026 had triggered a 3.8% drop a day earlier. [O/R] "Recent (price) weakness seems to be driven by OPEC’s revision of supply-demand balances in 2026," said Suvro Sarkar, DBS Bank's energy sector team lead. "Which confirms the group is now acknowledging the possibility of a supply glut." (Additional reporting by Stephanie Kelly in London; editing by Sharon Singleton and Ed Osmond)
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