 "Asian shares mostly higher on upbeat United States jobs, growth data")
Asian shares rose Friday, powered by encouraging signs that the US economic recovery from the pandemic is gaining momentum.
President Joe Biden's proposal for a USD 6 trillion budget also boosted buying of shares likely to benefit from heavy government spending.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index climbed 2.1 per cent and other regional benchmarks all were higher.
Shares in Chinese online retail giant JD.com Inc.'s logistics arm rose 4.3 per cent on their first trading day in Hong Kong after it raised 24 billion Hong Kong dollars (USD 3.1 billion) by selling a portion of the unit to outside investors.
JD Logistics Inc. is the latest technology company to list in the semi-autonomous Chinese city as Beijing steps up scrutiny of the industry. Its IPO was the second largest for the market this year after short video firm Kuaishou raised USD 5.3 billion.
Markets were lifted by mostly positive reports. The number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits fell yet again to a pandemic low of 406,000.
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Although the Commerce Department reported that sales of durable goods fell 1.3 per cent, it also released updated data showing the US economy grew at a 6.4 per cent annual rate in the first quarter as growing numbers of people got vaccinated, allowing the economy to shift back toward normal activity.
The optimism around US economic data is boosting the recovery theme and may potentially spur some catch-up growth in Asia indexes, considering that they have been lagging," Jun Rong Yeap of IG said in a commentary.