Most Asian markets rallied Tuesday on signs of strength in a gauge of U.S. manufacturing, with Hong Kong stocks rebounding after a four-day losing streak, while Japanese stocks declined on a strengthened yen.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index backpedaled 59.48 points, or 0.6%, to 10,050.40
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index surged 268.72 points, or 1.3%, to 20,791.
Taiwan’s Taiex gave up ground on worries the government may propose a capital gains tax.
Stock gains in Sydney narrowed after the Australian central bank left its policy interest rate unchanged at 4.25%, as expected. But the RBA said the pace of output growth was expected to be "somewhat lower than earlier estimated," and chose to await forthcoming data on prices to assess its outlook for inflation.
Miners pared their advance, while some banks retreated after the decision. Rio Tinto Ltd. climbed 0.9% and BHP Billiton Ltd. rose 0.2%, but off their respective peaks for the day.
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. and Bank of Queensland Ltd. shed 0.3% and 1.5%, respectively.
A weaker U.S. dollar helped to support many resource stocks in the region. In Hong Kong, Jiangxi Copper Co. jumped 4.7% and PetroChina Co. added 1.6%.
Property stocks and banks also got a lift after recent declines, with China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. adding 5.3%, China Resources Land Ltd. climbing 5.1%, and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. advancing 2%.
South Korean automakers jumped ahead of U.S. auto sales due out later in the global day. Hyundai Motor Co. surged 6.3%, while Kia Motors Corp. added 3.4%.
Deutsche Bank analysts said that they’re expecting solid first-quarter earnings from South Korean car makers "on the back of sales growth at auto original-equipment manufacturers."
Semiconductor firms rose in Seoul after the advance on Wall Street, but broader market losses hurt weighed on them in Tokyo and Taipei.
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. climbed 2.8%, while Renesas Electronics Corp. fell 1.1% in Japan and Nanya Technology Corp. slumped 6.8% in Taiwan.
A stronger yen also weighed on Japanese exporters. Toyota Motor Corp. lost 0.3% and Sony Corp. surrendered 0.6%.
Olympus Corp. finished 0.1% higher, overcoming losses suffered earlier in the day after former president and chief executive officer Michael Woodford was quoted by Kyodo News as promising a "surprise" action at an extraordinary shareholder meeting set for April 20.
Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. fell 3.6% after the Nikkei business daily reported that the firm was planning to build five major real-estate projects in Tokyo at a cost of more than ¥600 billion ($7.3 billion U.S).
CHINA
Markets in mainland China will be closed for much of the week for holiday-related celebrations
In other markets;
Korea’s Kospi Index gained 19.99 points, or 1%, to 2,049.28
The Taiex index in Taiwan shed 102.05 points, or 1.3%, to 7,760.85
Singapore’s Straits Times Index sliced off 1.09 points to 3,014.98
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index slid 20.52 points, or 0.6%, to 3,473.09
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 7.76 points, or 0.2%, to 4,337.04
