Asia shares rise after US jobs data; Japan, South Korea indices hit record

Asia shares were mostly higher Thursday and benchmarks in Japan and South Korea reached new records after Wall Street wobbled following a better-than-expected US job report.

US futures edged higher.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 surpassed the 58,000 mark early in the session as trading resumed after a holiday. However, it gave up those gains, edging just 10 points lower to 57,639.84.

Japanese shares have rallied following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's landslide victory in a parliamentary election on Sunday, as investors expect more policies to help spur economic growth.

South Korea's Kospi breached the 5,500 mark for the first time, driven by gains for technology-related stocks. It was up 3.1 per cent at 5,522.27.

Samsung Electronics, South Korea's biggest listed company, rose 6.4 per cent. Chipmaker SK Hynix added 3.3 per cent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.9 per cent to 27,028.67. The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1 per cent higher, to 4,140.59.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 picked u