* Asian shares see modest gains for a fifth day

* Gold hits new record as dollar hovers near 15-month low

* Aussie dollar surges to 15-mth high on strong jobs data (Repeats to more subscribers)

By Susan Fenton

HONG KONG, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Asian shares edged up on Thursday as investors continued to favour riskier assets on further signs that the global economy is picking up, while a weak dollar sent gold to another record high.

The dollar .DXY recovered some losses after hitting a 15-month low early on, but was still down 0.3 percent against a basket of major currencies.

Its weakness encouraged a shift into gold XAU=, which hit a record high for a second day, at $1,120.30 an ounce, while platinum XPT= rose to a record high above $1,376 an ounce.

A string of robust economic data from China on Wednesday has added to expectations the world's fastest-growing major economy can lead a pick-up in global activity. That has further encouraged a shift from the dollar to riskier assets and boosted commodity prices.

Asian equities rose for a fifth straight day, though gains were modest. Both the MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS and the Nikkei .N225 were up around 0.4 percent.