Investing.com - Asian shares gained on Wednesday on solid regional indicators with eyes turned increasingly to U.S. jobs data at the end of the week.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.68%, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.73% and the Nikkei 225 jumped 2.10%.
n Australia, the October AIG Services Index fell 3.3 points to 48.9. As well, retail sales gained 0.4% in September, matching month-on-month expectations, while the trade balance came in at a deficit of A$2.317 billion, narrower than the A$3.0 billion seen.
In China, the Ciaxin services PMI for October rose to 52, besting an expected 50.8.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.50% to hit a new 3-months high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.27%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.35%.
Investors are now focused on this week's nonfarm payrolls report, following some downbeat data in the U.S. that has cast doubt on whether the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates by the end of the year
The U.S. Census Bureau said factory orders dropped 1.0% in September, worse than forecasts for a fall of 0.9%. Factory orders decreased 2.1% in August, whose figure was revised from a previously reported decline of 1.7%.
The Federal Reserve left rates on hold last week but indicated that it could still raise interest rates for the first time since 2006 at its December meeting.