Asian share rise on US rally, jobs data signaling low rates

Asian shares opened the week higher, cheered by a rally on Wall Street as a grim jobs report signaled to investors that interest rates will likely stay low

TOKYO -- Asian shares rose Monday, cheered by a rally on Wall Street as a grim jobs report signaled to investors that interest rates will likely stay low. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.0% in morning trading to 29,644.96. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.2% to 7,166.10. South Korea's Kospi added 1.0% to 3,230.35. Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 0.4% to 28,729.22, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed but inched up to 3,418.95. The regional gains are coming despite a recent surge in coronavirus infections in Asia. In Japan, worries are growing about tens of thousands of athletes and officials entering the country for the Tokyo Olympics, set to open in July. Many will be from countries where people have been vaccinated, while the rollout has been extremely slow in Japan, with about 3% of the population inoculated so far. The Tokyo Olympics organizers are promising stringent measures to prevent clusters and testing the athletes and officials regularly for infections.