Stock market today: Rate hopes push Asian shares higher while oil prices edge lower

Asian shares are higher after Wall Street advanced on potentially encouraging news about interest rates, which have been dragging markets lower since the summer. U.S. futures slipped and oil prices also fell back slightly after surging following Israel's declaration of war on Hamas following its attack from the Gaza Strip. On Monday, the S&P 500 and the Dow rose 0.6%. The Nasdaq composite added 0.4%. Stocks of oil producers and defense companies led the market. Markets were buoyed by comments by two Federal Reserve officials who suggested interest rates might remain steady at their Nov. 1 policy meeting.