Asian stocks rose on Monday after data showed U.S. employers created jobs last month at the fastest pace in three years, boosting hopes of a sustained economic recovery.
U.S. S&P 500 stock index futures <.SPc1> rose 0.4 percent in the Asian day after the job report, topping an intraday peak in an abbreviated futures session on Friday.
Most cash markets in the U.S. and Europe were closed for the Good Friday holiday when the jobs data was released.
But trading in Asia was lighter than usual, with markets in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and New Zealand closed for holidays. European markets will remain closed on Monday but U.S. markets will reopen for business.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose 162,000 in March, the largest since March 2007, and only the third time payrolls have increased since the recession hit in late 2007, the strongest signal yet that its economic recovery is on solid footing and needs less government help.
The unemployment rate, however, held steady at 9.7 percent for a third straight month, the Labor Department said on Friday.
Economists had expected nonfarm payrolls to rise 190,000 last month, but they said a solid rise in private-sector hiring gave the report a stronger-than-expected tone.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei average <.N225> closed up 0.47 percent at 11,339.30, after climbing as high as 11,408.17, a fresh 18-month peak, as automakers such as Honda Motor <7267.T> and Toyota Motor <7203.T> continued to rise following a jump in U.S. auto sales in March.
The Nikkei also drew support from the yen's fall last week to a seven-month low against the dollar.
A fall in the yen can help Japanese exporters as it makes their products more competitive and can increase their overseas profits when repatriated back home.
The dollar later eased against the yen with traders pocketing profits after the greenback vaulted to its highest in more than seven months earlier in the day.
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