EUR/USD posts modest gains above 1.1700 as Supreme Court allows Fed's Cook to stay in her post 

• EUR/USD trades with mild gains around 1.1735 in Thursday's Asian session. 
• Traders pondered the length of the US government shutdown and its effect on economic data releases.
• Fed Governor Cook to stay in her job until January. 

The EUR/USD pair gains ground near 1.1735 during the Asian trading hours on Thursday. The concern over the impact of the US government shutdown undermines the US Dollar (USD) against the Euro (EUR). The US weekly Initial Jobless Claims will not be published in light of the ongoing federal shutdown. 

The US federal government shut down on Wednesday after a deadlocked Congress failed to reach a deal on funding. Government agencies warned this would halt the release of the closely watched September employment report, among other things. The US President Donald Trump administration on Wednesday froze $26 billion for Democratic-leaning states, following through on a threat to use the shutdown to target Democratic priorities.

Markets expect further policy easing at the Fed's October meeting to be a lock, with Fed funds futures implying a 99.4% chance of a 25-basis-point (bps) cut, up from 96.2% a day earlier, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

The US Supreme Court said on Thursday that it would hear arguments in January over Trump's attempt to remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook, leaving her in the post for now. Easing concerns about the Fed's independence might help limit the USD's losses in the near term.

The European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde said there are no serious threats to the outlook for euro-area inflation but that officials must remain vigilant. Her remarks indicated that the ECB is in no rush to lower borrowing costs further. This, in turn, supports the shared currency against the USD.