Asia shares up after record close on Wall Street

Asian markets were mostly higher on Wednesday following another record-breaking close on Wall Street, after a slew of strong economic data buoyed sentiment as investors returned from a long weekend. Tokyo was flat by the break, Hong Kong added 0.27 per cent, Sydney climbed 0.31 per cent and Seoul was 0.51 per cent higher but Shanghai dipped 0.19 per cent. The bullish sentiment provided the dollar with support, while the euro remains under pressure on expectations the European Central Bank will announce fresh measures to combat deflation fears. Independent business research group The Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence rose to 83.0 in May from 81.7 last month. It is also well up from 74.3 a year ago. Nobel laureate and economist Paul Krugman urged the ECB Tuesday to raise its 2.0 inflation target in order to help keep long-term interest rates down to boost the eurozone economy. After the Memorial Day long weekend US shares rallied on Tuesday in response to another set of data showing the economy is getting back on track, according to AFP.