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Hong Kong - Asian markets were mixed on Thursday as profit-taking tempered the buoyant sentiment fuelled by another record-breaking performance on Wall Street.
Investors are now keeping their focus on the release later in the day of key US jobs figures, hoping for further signs a recovery in the world's number-one economy is picking up strength.
Tokyo was flat, Hong Kong dipped 0.18%, Seoul lost 0.27% and Shanghai was 0.51% lower, while Sydney added 0.43%.
Regional shares have enjoyed a broad rally this week, helped by data suggesting Chinese manufacturing is getting back on track.
Global shares have been on an upward course for much of the week and were given an extra lift by a positive report on private jobs Wednesday.
Payrolls company ADP said the private sector added a better-than-expected 281 000 jobs in June, surging from 179 000 in May.
The news lifted sentiment ahead of the release Thursday of the Labour Department's non-farm payrolls data, which is used as a barometer of the wider economy.
US shares extended Tuesday's gains. On Wall Street the Dow added 0.12% and the S&P 500 was marginally higher, both hitting records for a second successive day. The Nasdaq was flat.
In foreign exchange trade the gains on equity markets lifted confidence, which provided support to higher risk, higher-yielding units.
The dollar bought ¥101.90 in early Tokyo trade compared with ¥101.77 in New York on Wednesday. The yen, which is considered a safe bet in times of uncertainty, has slipped over the past week - on Monday it touched ¥101.23 against the dollar, its highest level since late May.
The euro bought $1.3653 and ¥139.14 against $1.3658 and ¥138.99.
Oil prices edged lower. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery eased 47 cents to $104.01 while Brent crude for August was down 47c to $110.77.
Gold fetched $1 324.81 an ounce at 02:00 GMT compared with $1 326.03 late on Wednesday.
