Asian stocks rise ahead of US payrolls but Abe shooting jolts sentiment

TOKYO: Asian shares advanced on Friday as fears of an economic slowdown cooled somewhat, though news of the shooting of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe jolted Japanese shares and drove up the safe-haven yen.

Abe was shot while campaigning in the city of Nara, a government spokesman said, causing the dollar to fall as much as 0.4 percent on the yen, and the Nikkei share index to pare its gains.

The share benchmark was last up 0.5 percent having hit a 10-day high earlier in the session.