Asian shares mostly up

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 programme.
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 in the afternoon Hong Kong was 0.21 per cent higher.
But Seoul slipped 0.18 per cent, or 3.55 points, to 1,993.70 and Shanghai was 0.57 per cent lower in late trade.
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 comes after a weak run of Chinese indicators, including on trade, investment and industrial output. The economy grew an annual 7.7 per cent in 2013, the same as in 2012 - which was the slowest since 1999, while leaders have set a target of 7.5 per cent for this year.
"It's very obvious that the leaders feel the need to stabilise growth," Mizuho economist Shen Jianguang told Dow Jones Newswires. "Overall, the 7.5 per cent 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.
The S&P 500 rose 0.29 per cent, the Dow added 0.24 per cent and the Nasdaq finished 0.20 per cent higher.
In addition, US factory orders rose 1.6 per cent in February, better than forecasts of a 1.1 per cent 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 103.92 yen in Tokyo, compared with 103.85 in New York late Wednesday.
The euro was at US$1.3760 against US$1.3765, while it also fetched 142.99 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 mixed. New York's West Texas Intermediate for May delivery eased 20 cents to US$99.42 a barrel in afternoon trade but Brent North Sea crude for May was up 11 cents at US$104.90.
Gold fetched US$1,293.00 an ounce at 0600 GMT compared with US$1,283.33 late Wednesday.
In other markets: - Taipei fell 0.19 per cent, or 16.91 points, to 8,888.54.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co slipped 1.25 per cent to Tw$118.5 while smartphone maker HTC added 0.33 per cent to Tw$154.0.-