Asia-Pacific markets are mixed as investors evaluate economic data

Xiaomi shares surged amid South Korea and Australia economic data, boosting Hong Kong equities and the Hang Seng index across Asia-Pacific, up 1.95% after a long weekend.

As investors evaluated economic data from South Korea and Australia, Xiaomi shares rose, leading to advances in Hong Kong equities on Tuesday across the Asia-Pacific region. After a long weekend, traders returned to find the Hang Seng index up 1.95%. Xiaomi's shares surged by as much as 16% after the consumer electronics giant opened orders for its recently introduced electric vehicle on Thursday. In March, South Korea's inflation rate remained stable at 3.1%, as predicted by Reuters' survey of experts.

Australia's purchasing managers' index fell to 47.3 in March from 47.8 in February, marking the country's steepest industrial activity contraction since May 2020. India's manufacturing sector grew at its quickest rate in sixteen years, according to a private poll. The CSI 300 index in China dropped 0.59%. The inflation reading caused the South Korean stock market's Kospi to close 0.19% higher at 2,753.16, while the Kosdaq fell 2.29% to 891.59. The S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia fell 0.14% to 7,886, retracing from new all-time highs.

The broad-based Topix closed 0.25% lower at 2,714.45, but Japan's Nikkei 225 bounced back to close 0.09% higher at 39,838.91. All three of the major U.S. markets finished the night in mixed territory, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rising 13 basis points to 4.319%. The S&P 500 fell 0.2%, and the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6%. 0.11% was gained by the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite.