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Asian shares advance after coronavirus relief bill surge on Wall Street

A man walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Friday, March 27, 2020. Shares are mostly higher in Asia after stocks surged again on Wall Street with the approaching approval of a massive coronavirus relief bill by Congress. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A man walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Friday, March 27, 2020. Shares are mostly higher in Asia after stocks surged again on Wall Street with the approaching approval of a massive coronavirus relief bill by Congress. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) A man walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Friday, March 27, 2020. Shares are mostly higher in Asia after stocks surged again on Wall Street with the approaching approval of a massive coronavirus relief bill by Congress. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

By ELAINE KURTENBACH / AP Business Writer 5 min read

BANGKOK (AP) – Shares advanced on Friday in Asia after Wall Street logged a third straight day of gains with the approaching congressional approval of a massive coronavirus relief bill.

Tokyo and Seoul jumped 1.2% and Shanghai added 0.6%, while stocks fell in Australia.

Wall Street appeared to shrug off miserable news on unemployment as the S&P 500 rose 6.2%, bringing its three-day rally to 17.6%. The Dow industrials have risen an even steeper 21.3% since Monday.

Nearly 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, easily shattering the prior record set in 1982, as layoffs and business shutdowns sweep across the country.

Analysts said the market shot higher Thursday because the bad news on unemployment was expected. The gains earlier this week came as Capitol Hill and the Federal Reserve promised an astonishing amount of aid for the economy and markets, hoping to support them as the outbreak causes more businesses to shut down by the day.