Asian markets were mostly higher on Tuesday, with Chinese mainland markets up more than 2% and Japan shares rising after better-than-expected economic data.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 increased 166.96 points, or 1%, to 17,234.98
Japan's industrial output in April saw a 0.3% increase from March, beating expectations for a 1.5% fall. The better-than-expected data suggested that production was holding up despite weaker exports and impact from the Kumamoto earthquakes.
Japan's April household spending fell 0.4% year-on-year, the second month of declines, but still came in better than expected, while unemployment rate held steady at 3.2%.
After the data, the U.S. dollar/ Japanese yen pair fell as low as 110.77 from levels around 111 before the data. But it recovered to trade at 111.26. A weaker yen is generally seen as a positive for Japanese stocks.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gained 185.7 points, or 0.9%, to 20,815.09
Among brokerages, Hong Kong-listed Citic Securities was up 3.3% and mainland-listed Huatai Securities added 8.1%
South Korea's Samsung Heavy stocks jumped 7.6% after it announced that Templeton Asset Management increased its stake to 5.1% the shipbuilder. The news was welcomed by investors as South Korea's "Big Three" shipbuilders, which include Samsung Heavy, have been struggling with a build-up of debt in recent times due to slowing global trade, a vessel glut and low freight rates.
Shares of LG Electronics were up 0.7%, as one rating agency initiated coverage of the stock at outperform, saying the company, a consumer electronics giant, will see strong earnings growth driven by its "market-leader status in OLED TVs" as well as its appliance and vehicle-components businesses.
Virgin Australia shares surged 7.1% after it announced on Tuesday that China's HNA Aviation would buy a 13% stake in the Australian airline for A$159 million ($114 million U.S.). The Australia-China airline alliance is to capitalize on the growing tourism market between the two countries
The Australian Bureau of Statistics released data showing Australia's first-quarter current account deficit was A$20.8 billion, compared with economists’ forecasts of the deficit at A$19.5 billion.
The Australian dollar strengthened against the greenback to $0.7241.
South Korea saw industrial activity in April slow by 1.3 percent on-month, the second straight month of declines, coming in worse than a Reuters forecast for a 0.2 percent decline. The service sector output rose by 0.5 percent in the same period.
CHINA
The CSI 300 Index spiked 102.85 points, or 3.4%, to 3,169.56.
China shares may be getting a fillip from a Goldman Sachs report released Tuesday, which raises its probability estimate from 50% to 70% for A-share inclusion in the MSCI indexes.
The MSCI will announce the results of its Annual Market Classification Review on June 15, which may see the A-share market included in the index.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi Index regained 16.27 points, or 0.8%, to 1,983.40
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index dropped 5.69 points, or 0.2%, to 2,791.06
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index eased 0.28 points to 8,535.59
New Zealand’s NZX 50 added 19.78 points, or 0.3%, to 7,039.41
The ASX 200 fell 29.46 points, or 0.5%, to 5,378.56
