Stock market today: Asian shares start week with gains

NEW YORK (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher Monday after a widespread rally on Wall Street partly spurred by Apple’s report of better profit than expected.

Tokyo’s benchmark fell as markets reopened after several days of holidays, while markets in China advanced.

A report showed hiring accelerated across the economy by much more than expected last month. The government’s jobs report also showed workers won bigger pay raises than expected.

Such trends helped calm worries that a recession is looming, even as time grows short on reaching an agreement on the U.S. government debt ceiling, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

“But anxiety is building early this time and shifted into high gear last week after Secretary Yellen warned that a default could occur as soon as June 1,” he said.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 shed 0.7% to 28,951.08.

Reopening after a weeklong holiday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 0.8% to 20,199.67 and the Shanghai Composite index surged 1.6% to 3,386.59. South Korea's KOSPI jumped 0.9% to 2,522.33, while the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.7% in Sydney to 7,272.30.

Friday on Wall Street, the S&P 500 jumped 1.8% to 4,136.25, though it still turned in a modest loss for the week that was its worst in nearly two months.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.7% to 33,674.38, and the Nasdaq rallied 2.2% to 12,235.41.

The strong employment data did revive worries that persisting high inflation may push the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates further, adding to pressure on an already slowing economy.

The Fed said Wednesday it wasn’t sure of its next move after raising its benchmark rate to a range of 5% to 5.25%, up from virtually zero early last year. Many traders expect the Fed to hold rates steady at its next meeting in...