Asian shares have advanced after a surprisingly strong U.S. jobs report raised optimism about the economy, sparking a rally on Wall Street

The Dow was up 0.5%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite rallied 0.9%. Still, all three major U.S. stock indexes remained down modestly for the week, with the S&P 500 on track for a slight 0.1% weekly decline, FactSet data show, at last check.

"On the face of this the Fed should be hiking rates with these sorts of figures, not cutting rates," Economist James Knightley said.

Friday’s report capped a week of mostly encouraging data on the job market, including an update indicating layoffs remain relatively low. Such strength helps allay one of Wall Street’s top questions: whether the job market will continue to hold up after the Federal Reserve earlier kept interest rates at a two-decade high.

Most Asian stocks are set to open higher in early trading after strong US jobs data underscored the health of the world’s largest economy and boosted soft landing hopes.

Asian markets rose Monday after a blockbuster US jobs report soothed any concerns about the world's top economy, while the dollar held gains with traders scaling back bets on another