(Bloomberg) -- Stocks fluctuated in Asia on Thursday as the House began voting on the US debt ceiling deal and investors weighed the prospect of a pause in rate hikes from the Federal Reserve this month.

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Japanese and Australian shares rose, those in South Korea edged lower and US equity futures swung between small gains and losses. The tone was slightly more positive than on Wednesday, when the region’s equities fell more than 1% against the backdrop of worries about Chinese growth. Manufacturing data for China due later in the day is forecast to show a further contraction in activity.

The picture for US contracts followed declines on Wednesday and suggests investors were taking more notice of Fed officials who backed the possibility of holding rates unchanged the next meeting.

Fed Governor Philip Jefferson said the central bank is inclined to keep interest rates steady in June to assess the economic outlook. His remarks were echoed by Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, who said: “I think we can take a bit of a skip for a meeting.”

The S&P 500 closed 0.6% lower Wednesday, narrowly clinging to a small gain for May to mark three consecutive monthly advances. The Nasdaq 100 index fell 0.7%, weighed down by a decline for Nvidia Corp. shares after a rapid rally that has tripled the stock price this year.

Corporate earnings were again in focus. Shares in Salesforce Inc. tumbled around 7% in after-hours trading following a dim outlook for sales while Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. fell 7.1% Wednesday on slimmer revenue projections than anticipated.

Australian and New Zealand bond yields inched lower, following a decline in Treasury yields. The dollar was lower against most major currencies after strengthening on Wednesday.

Hopes for a Fed pause were partly pared back after the JOLTS jobs report for April showed more than 10 million openings, the highest in three months and above consensus estimates.

Meanwhile in Congress, the deal struck by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden was being voted on. Leaders of both parties expressed confidence they had enough votes to pass the bill and send it to the Senate days before the June 5 default deadline.

Elsewhere, West Texas Intermediate crude deepened its slide below $70 a barrel. Gold rose slightly.

Key events this week:

• China Caixin manufacturing PMI, Thursday

• Eurozone HCOB Eurozone Manufacturing PMI, CPI, unemployment, Thursday

• US construction spending, initial jobless claims, ISM Manufacturing, Thursday

• ECB President Christine Lagarde speaks at conference, Thursday

• Fed’s Patrick Harker speaks at webinar, Thursday

• US unemployment, nonfarm payrolls, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures were steady as of 10:11 a.m. Tokyo time. The S&P 500 fell 0.6%

• Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.1%. The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.7%

• Hang Seng futures fell 0.2%

• Japan’s Topix rose 0.8%

• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1%

• Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.5%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed

• The euro was little changed at $1.0686

• The Japanese yen was little changed at 139.25 per dollar

• The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1222 per dollar

• The Australian dollar fell 0.2% to $0.6490

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin was little changed at $27,135.6

• Ether rose 0.7% to $1,878.25

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 3.64%

• Japan’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.430%

• Australia’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 3.58%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.4% to $67.83 a barrel

• Spot gold rose 0.1% to $1,965.34 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

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