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.
Tokyo rose 1.09%, or 157.50 points, to 14,546.27 and Hong Kong slipped 0.97%, or 221.04 points, to 22,509.64.
Jakarta closed down 0.10%, or 5.06 points, to 4893.15, Kuala Lumpur's main stock index ended flat at 1,867.35, inching up a mere 0.93 points or 0.05% and Singapore closed down 0.60%, or 19.52 points, at 3,258.01.
Manila closed 0.23%, giving up 15.43 points to 6,769.52.
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.
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 US President Barack Obama's Japan visit for any mention of a planned Pacific-wide trade zone. Negotiations have stumbled in recent weeks over differences between the United States and Japan on the auto and agriculture sectors.