Asian shares are mostly higher following a rally on Wall Street as investors assessed minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting of policymakers and welcomed encouraging data on U.S. jobs, the AP reported. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.4% to finish at 25,820.80. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged up nearly 0.1% to 7,063.60. South Korea's Kospi added 0.6% to 2,269.71. Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.3% to 21,055.60, while the Shanghai Composite gained 1.1% to 3,156.44. In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude rose $1.09 to $73.93 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It dropped $4.09 on Wednesday. Brent crude, the international pricing standard, rose $1.11 to $78.95 a barrel. U.S. crude oil settled 5.3% lower on Wall Street. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 132.42 Japanese yen from 132.56 yen. The euro cost $1.0617, up slightly from $1.0610.
