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Hong Kong - Asian markets were mixed on Wednesday following another Wall Street rally, while a provisional report showed a slight improvement in Chinese manufacturing activity this month.
The dollar held up against the yen, with traders eyeing US President Barack Obama's visit to Asia that starts in Japan later in the day.
Tokyo rose 1.09%, or 157.50 points, to 14,546.27 and Sydney added 0.7%, or 38.5 points, to 5,517.8. Seoul lost 0.19%, or 3.85 points, to end at 2,000.37.
Hong Kong slipped 0.97%, or 221.04 points, to 22,509.64 and Shanghai fell 0.26%, or 5.45 points, to 2,067.38.
HSBC said its preliminary purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China came in at 48.3 in April, up from 48.0 in March.
While the figures point to a continuing contraction in manufacturing activity in the Asian economic giant, the rate has slowed.
A figure below 50 suggests shrinkage, while anything above points to growth.
The result will provide little comfort to traders about the Chinese economy after data last week showed it grew 7.4% year-on-year in January-March, more than expected but down from the previous three months.
"Domestic demand showed mild improvement and deflationary pressures eased, but downside risks to growth are still evident as both new export orders and employment contracted," HSBC economist Qu Hongbin said in a statement, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
Eyes are now on the release of early PMI figures for Europe and the United States later in the day after recent figures have pointed to a pick-up in the global economy.
On currency markets the dollar bought ¥102.58 against ¥102.60 in New York on Tuesday, while the euro bought $1.3819 and ¥141.7, compared with $1.3804 and ¥141.6.
The Australian dollar fell to 93.14 US cents from 93.75c after data showed Australian inflation was lower than expected in the first three months of the year.
On Tuesday the three main indices in New York enjoyed another positive day following a series of deals between pharmaceutical giants Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly that shuffled more than $20bn in assets.
Added to that were solid or strong earnings from Comcast, Lockheed Martin, Netflix, Travelers and Xerox, among others.
The S&P 500 added 0.41% and the Nasdaq jumped 0.97%, with each index clocking up a sixth successive advance after suffering heavy selling earlier this month.
The Dow climbed 0.40%, a third straight gain.
Analysts will be watching Obama's Japan visit for any mention of a planned Pacific-wide trade zone. Negotiations have stumbled in recent weeks over differences between the US and Japan on the auto and agriculture sectors.
Oil prices were mixed. New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for June delivery, dipped 5c to $101.70 and Brent North Sea crude for June rose 10c to $109.37.
Gold fetched $1 286.71 an ounce at 10:50 GMT, compared with $1 291.73 on Tuesday.
In other markets:
Bangkok added 0.59% or 8.34 points to 1,423.39.
- Airports of Thailand gained 2.33% to 197.50 baht, while hospital firm Bangkok Dusit Medical Services rose 5.30% to 139.00 baht.
- Jakarta closed down 0.10%, or 5.06 points, to 4893.15.
- Sinar Mas Agro Resources lost 1.52% at 6,500 rupiah, while Indorama Synthetics climbed 10.42% to 795 rupiah.
- Kuala Lumpur's main stock index ended flat at 1,867.35, inching up a mere 0.93 points or 0.05%.
Budget carrier AirAsia gained 0.9% to 2.32 ringgit, while Malayan Banking rose 0.1% to 10.00. Public Bank fell 0.5% to 20.28 ringgit.
- Mumbai rose 0.52% to end at 22,876.54 points. It had touched a new high of 22,912.52 points briefly during the session.
Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals jumped 16.17% to 63.95 rupees, while Future Retail rose 6.17% to 120.40 rupees.
- Singapore closed down 0.60%, or 19.52 points, at 3,258.01.
Singapore Airlines was up 0.10% to Sg$10.35, while oil-rig maker Keppel Corp eased 3.45% to Sg$10.63.
- Taipei fell 0.20%, or 17.79 points, to 8,956.92.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was off 0.41% at Tw$121.0 while Fubon Financial Holdings shed 1.33% to Tw$40.75.
- Wellington rose 0.74%, or 37.98 points, to 5,142.92.
Telecom was up 0.38% at NZ$2.635 and Fletcher Building climbed 1.46% to NZ$9.74.
- Manila closed 0.23% lower, giving up 15.43 points to 6,769.52.
Philippine Long Distance Telephone ended 0.62% down at 2,876.00 pesos, Ayala Land dropped 0.49% to 30.55 pesos and LT Group finished 0.43% off at 18.68 pesos.
