Asian shares inched higher on Thursday as investors awaited key US jobs data expected later in the day, hoping it would pave the way for interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. The modest uptick in regional equities followed record closes on Wall Street after US President Donald Trump announced a new trade deal with Vietnam, fuelling optimism over global trade momentum.According to Reuters, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 per cent, just below a four-year high. Japan’s Nikkei was flat, while China’s blue-chip CSI300 also gained 0.2 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, however, slipped 0.6 per cent as data revealed China’s services activity grew at its slowest pace in nine months.The US labour market is in sharp focus, with June’s non-farm payrolls expected to show a 110,000 job gain and the unemployment rate ticking up to 4.3 per cent. The stakes are high after a private payroll report on Wednesday revealed the first contraction in over two years. “These labour market indicators warn of the risk that the unemployment rate could spike to 4.4 per cent, the highest since October 2021,” said Tony Sycamore of IG, as quoted by news agency Reuters.Markets are now pricing in a 70 per cent chance of a Fed rate cut in July, up from 25 per cent earlier this week. Ten-year US Treasury yields eased 2 basis points to 4.265 per cent, while the dollar continued to face pressure, hovering near a three-year low. The euro edged up 0.1 per cent to $1.1807, and the pound also rose slightly as concerns about UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ future faded.Investor focus also remained on Trump’s tax and spending bill, which proposes $3.3 trillion in new debt while cutting social safety net programs. In commodities, oil prices retreated after a sharp 3 per cent rise in the previous session. Brent crude fell 24 cents to $68.87 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate dipped to $67.21. As per Reuters, the drop followed a surprise 3.8 million barrel increase in US crude inventories and weak gasoline demand, which dipped to 8.6 million barrels per day during the peak summer driving season.Despite recent support from geopolitical tensions, notably Iran’s suspension of cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, concerns over soft US consumption weighed on prices. Analysts noted that any dovish signals from the Fed on Thursday could reverse this sentiment by improving the demand outlook.Meanwhile, gold prices slipped 0.4 per cent to $3,342 an ounce amid dollar weakness and pre-data caution. As per Bloomberg, the cautious optimism in equity and bond markets underlines the high-stakes environment ahead of the US jobs release, a key signal for monetary policy and market direction globally.