Asia stocks sluggish, plenty of event risk ahead

A week filled with geopolitical danger, Chinese economic data, and earnings reports from big US banks saw Asian equities get off to a slow start on Monday. As congressional leaders reached an agreement on another interim spending plan, there was at least some movement towards preventing an impending government shutdown despite light trade due to the US holiday. The broadest MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside of Japan fell 0.1 per cent following a 0.8 per cent loss the previous week. Japan's Nikkei continued to rise steadily, closing in on 34-year highs after a spectacular 6.6 per cent gain previous…