HONG KONG - Asian markets were mostly down Tuesday as traders booked profits after the previous day's rally.
But the euro held on to the gains it made against the dollar after an upbeat survey of European factory activity raised hopes for the eurozone, while the Indian rupee hit a seven-month high.
Tokyo slipped 0.36%, or 52.11 points, to finish at 14,423.19; and Hong Kong fell 0.51%, or 114.13 points, to 21,732.32.
Manila fell 1%, or 64.33 points, to 6,336.34; Jakarta ended down 0.37%, or 17.33 points, at 4,703.09; Singapore closed down 0.25%, or 7.66 points, at 3,104.17; and Kuala Lumpur's main stock index gained 0.18% or 3.32 points to 1,837.17.
European and US shares were unable to match Monday's strong performance from stocks in Asia, where traders saw a fall in Chinese manufacturing activity as possibly pressing Beijing into announcing monetary easing measures.
Regional markets surged despite HSBC's preliminary purchasing managers index (PMI) for March contracting further and hitting an eight-month low.
In the United States, Markit Economics said an early PMI reading slid to 55.5 in March from 57.1 in February.
A figure above 50 points to growth while anything below suggests contraction.
While the data still suggests expansion, investors were spooked as recent disappointing economic numbers had been blamed on severe winter weather at the start of the year.