Asian shares mostly up after new Wall St. record

A man looks at an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo Wednesday, April 2, 2014. Asian markets mostly rose Thursday following another record close on Wall Street as US private jobs growth picked up, but Shanghai gave up early gains despite China unveiling a mini-stimulus program. AP PHOTO/EUGENE HOSHIKO

HONG KONG—Asian markets mostly rose Thursday following another record close on Wall Street as US private jobs growth picked up, but Shanghai gave up early gains despite China unveiling a mini-stimulus program.

Global shares have enjoyed a broad rally this week following upbeat manufacturing data in key economies, while investors are keenly awaiting the release of a US non-farm payrolls report on Friday.

Tokyo added 0.84 percent, or 125.56 points, to 15,071.88, Sydney gained 0.12 percent, or 6.6 points, to close at 5,409.9 and Hong Kong was 0.18 percent higher, jumping 41.14 points to 22,565.08

But Seoul slipped 0.18 percent, or 3.55 points, to 1,993.70 and Shanghai shed 0.74 percent, or 15.29 points, to 2,043.70.

Beijing on Wednesday announced a series of spending measures aimed at kickstarting the Chinese economy, a key driver of global growth but one which has shown signs of slowing in recent months.

The plan includes extra spending on railways, improving low-income housing and tax relief for small businesses, which have been struggling along with the economy.

Wednesday’s announcement came after a weak run of Chinese indicators, including on trade, investment and industrial output. The economy grew an annual 7.7 percent in 2013, the same as in 2012—which was the slowest since 1999, while leaders have set a target of 7.5 percent for this year.

“It’s very obvious that the leaders feel the need to stabilize growth,” Mizuho economist Shen Jianguang told Dow Jones Newswires. “Overall, the 7.5 percent growth target means that the government still cares a lot about economic growth.”

However, the government made no mention of monetary policy, such as a reduction in the amount of cash banks must keep in reserve, or an interest rate cut.

On Wall Street the S&P 500 closed at a second straight record high after payrolls firm ADP said US businesses added 191,000 jobs in March, returning to the level of growth seen in December before severe winter weather struck the country. The February number was also revised up by 39,000 to 178,000 jobs.

Eyes on ECB policy meeting

The S&P 500 rose 0.29 percent, the Dow added 0.24 percent and the Nasdaq finished 0.20 percent higher.

In addition, US factory orders rose 1.6 percent in February, better than forecasts of a 1.1 percent increase.

The results raised hopes for a strong March government jobs reports on Friday following three months of slowing caused by the winter storms.

On currency markets the dollar bought 103.91 yen in Tokyo, compared with 103.85 in New York late Wednesday.

The euro was at $1.3763 against $1.3765, while it also fetched 143.01 yen, up from 142.96 yen.

The euro will be in focus over the next few days as the European Central Bank holds a policy meeting Thursday, with investors looking to find out its plans after inflation eased to a four-and-a-half-year low in March.

Oil prices were lower. New York’s West Texas Intermediate for May delivery eased 20 cents to $99.42 a barrel in afternoon trade but Brent North Sea crude for May was down 12 cents at $104.67.

Gold fetched $1,286.75 an ounce at 1046 GMT compared with $1,283.33 late Wednesday.

In other markets:

— Bangkok lost 0.39 percent, or 5.40 points, to 1,391.22.

Telecoms company Advanced Info Service dropped 2.62 percent to 223 baht, while Thai Airways fell 2.80 percent to 13.90 baht.

— Jakarta ended up 0.43 percent, or 21.12 points, at 4,891.32.

Retailer Hero Supermarket jumped 5.00 percent to 2,940 rupiah, while palm oil firm Astra Agro Lestari slipped 1.74 percent to 25,350 rupiah.

— Kuala Lumpur’s gained 0.20 percent, or 3.63 points, to 1,855.63.

SapuraKencana Petroleum added 1.9 percent to 4.77 ringgit, while financial firm CIMB Group Holdings rose 0.6 percent to 7.25.

— Manila ended flat, dipping 0.64 points to 6,587.08.

Ayala Land rose 1.77 percent to 31.60 pesos and its parent Ayala Corp. fell 0.49 percent to 610 pesos.

— Singapore climbed 0.85 percent, or 27.28 points, to 3,220.06.

Vehicle distributor Jardine Cycle and Carriage rose 3.12 percent to Sg$47.20, while telecommunications company StarHub gained 0.96 percent to Sg$4.20.

— Taipei fell 0.19 percent, or 16.91 points, to 8,888.54.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. slipped 1.25 percent to Tw$118.5 while smartphone maker HTC added 0.33 percent to Tw$154.0.

— Wellington rose 0.12 percent, or 6.06 points, to 5,122.37.

Telecom added 3.26 percent to NZ$2.53 and Fletcher Building gained 0.63 percent to NZ$9.52.

— Mumbai fell 0.19 percent, or 42.42 points, to end at 22,509.07 points.

L&T Finance Holdings lost 9.71 percent, or 7.50 rupees, to 69.75 rupees per share, while IFCI fell 8.51 percent, or 2.35 rupees, to 25.25 rupees per share.—Danny McCord