Asian shares mostly higher on upbeat US jobs, growth data

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares rose Friday, powered by encouraging signs that the U.S. economic recovery from the pandemic is gaining momentum.

President Joe Biden's proposal fo r a $6 trillion budget also boosted buying of shares likely to benefit from heavy government spending.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index climbed 2.1% and other regional benchmarks all were higher.

Shares in Chinese online retail giant JD.com Inc.’s logistics arm rose 4.3% on their first trading day in Hong Kong after it raised 24 billion Hong Kong dollars ($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 $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.

Although the Commerce Department reported that sales of durable goods fell 1.3%, it also released updated data showing the U.S. economy grew at a 6.4% 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 U.S. 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.

Tokyo added 600 points to 29,149.41 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced was flat at 29,123.51. In Seoul, the Kospi jumped 0.7% to 3,188.73. The Shanghai Composite index shed 0.4% to 3,595.41 and Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 added 1.2% to 7,179.50.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.1% to...