Asian shares rose on Thursday, shrugging off weak U.S. data overnight that raised concerns ahead of Friday's key employment figures, as investors covered positions ahead of the Easter holidays.

Most U.S. markets will be closed on Friday, with some European markets closed Friday through Monday and reopening on Tuesday.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up about 0.5 percent, ignoring modest overnight losses on Wall Street.

Australian shares .AXJO rose on growing expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia will announce its second rate cut of 2015 when it meets on Tuesday, the first trading day after markets close for the Easter weekend. Debt markets imply a 77 percent chance of a quarter-point easing. CSSY

Japan's Nikkei stock average .N225 was up 1.3 percent, after skidding to a three-week low in the previous session.

"Hedge funds are seen covering their short positions as the Nikkei fell sharply this week," said Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

On Wednesday, the ADP National Employment Report showed that U.S. private employers added 189,000 jobs last month, falling well short of economists' expectations for a rise of 225,000 jobs. The figure was the weakest since January 2014.

Friday's non-farm payrolls are expected to show an increase of 245,000 jobs in March, following a gain of 290,000 in February, according to economists polled by Reuters.

Separate data on Wednesday showed the pace of U.S. manufacturing growth in March slowed to its slowest in nearly two years.

The dollar slumped after the data as it reinforced concerns that the currency's recent rally has weighed on exports. The data also raised bets the Federal Reserve might not hike interest rates until late 2015.

"Slower U.S. growth and softer inflation have given the Fed reasons to delay and flatten its rate hiking path," strategists at Barclays said in a note to clients.

"These developments have caught the USD a bit ahead of itself, but given the recent correction, we expect it to stabilize around current levels. We think the USD is likely to take a break before resuming its uptrend at a slower pace," they said.

The greenback was down about 0.1 percent on the day at 119.62 yen JPY=, while the euro was nearly flat on the day at $1.0761 EUR=.

The euro was bolstered by Wednesday's data showing manufacturing activity across theeuro zone is accelerating. [ID:nL9N0VT020]

Oil prices dropped, taking back some of the sharp gains made in the previous session after U.S. crude output fell for the first time in two months and the government announced a smaller-than-feared rise in weekly stockpiles.

U.S. crude futures CLc1 shed 1.2 percent to $49.49 after surging more than 5 percent on Wednesday. Brent LCOc1 was down 1.1 percent at $56.47 after closing up 3.6 percent. [O/R]

Gold XAU= hovered slightly above $1,200 an ounce, clinging to gains from the prior session when it rose the most in two months on the weak U.S. economic data.