Tokyo, 8 Sep

Asian shares mostly rose with Japan's benchmark jumping higher in Monday morning trading, despite the looming political uncertainty after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced last night he was stepping down as prime minister and head of his party.

Analysts said his announcement was expected for some time and welcomed it as moving things forward, although uncertainty remains as an election at the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, or LDP, will need to be held, with several legislators stepping forward as candidates.

“Markets may react short-term to the temporary uncertainty of lame-duck leadership, but this may resolve once a new leader is chosen. Meanwhile, the LDP's position as a minority leading party is unlikely to change anytime soon, and as such compromise will be the name of the policy-making game,” said Naomi Fink, chief global strategist at Amova Asset Management.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 1.4 per cent in morning trading to 43,630.54. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.2% to 3,211.36. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.3% to 8,845.50.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 0.3% to 25,487.02, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2 per cent to 25,487.02.

Also Monday, Japan's Cabinet Office said the economy expanded at a stronger rate in the fiscal first quarter than previously estimated, at a seasonally adjusted 2.2 per cent annualized rate, better than the earlier 1.0 per cent rate as solid consumer spending and inventories lifted growth more than previously thought.

On Wall Street, stocks finished last week lower in Friday trading on uncertainty whether the US job market has slowed by just enough to get the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates to help the economy, or by so much that a downturn may be on the way.

After rising to an early gain, the S&P 500 erased it and fell 0.3% below the all-time high it set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 220 points, or 0.5%, after swinging between an early gain of nearly 150 points and a loss of 400. The Nasdaq composite edged down by less than 0.1%.

A report from the US Labour Department said American employers hired fewer workers in August than economists expected. The government also said that earlier estimates for June and July overstated hiring by 21,000 jobs.

The disappointing numbers follow last month's discouraging jobs update, along with other lackluster reports in intervening weeks, and traders are now betting on a 100% probability that the Fed will cut its main interest rate at its next meeting on 17 September.

In energy trading, benchmark US crude added 74 cents to $62.61 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 80 cents to $66.30 a barrel.

In currency trading, the US dollar edged up to 148.20 Japanese yen from 147.39 yen. The euro cost $1.1709, down from $1.1723.