Asian stock markets ended mostly higher Monday, starting off a new quarter on a positive note with a weaker yen lifting the Tokyo market, while Seoul stocks advanced on the back of an improved credit-rating outlook.
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Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.3% to 10109.87, while South Korea's Kospi climbed 0.8% to 2029.29 and Singapore's Straits Times Index added 0.2% to 3016.07.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index slipped 0.1% to 4329.3, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gave up 0.2% to 20522.26 and Taiwan's Taiex declined 0.9% to 7862.90. Mainland Chinese markets were closed for a holiday.
The day's performance came after Asian stocks rounded out the first three months of this year with gains, including a near 20% advance for the Nikkei Average. U.S. stocks also ended the first quarter on an upbeat note.
An official survey on Chinese manufacturing activity, released over the weekend, showed a much better-than-expected improvement in March—in sharp contrast to a separate manufacturing survey from HSBC, results released the same day, which showed a contraction in for the month.
HSBC economists said its data kept Chinese monetary-policy easing hopes alive. "Once these measures filter through, growth will likely start bottoming out in the second quarter and rebound modestly thereafter," they said.
But some others remained doubtful.
"Though this weekend's official PMI data went some way to assuaging that concern, with a very positive official manufacturing PMI report for March, the fact that the HSBC measure did not makes the reading questionable at best," said Michael Hewson, an analyst at CMC Markets.
South Korean stocks got a lift from the rating firm Moody's, which raised its outlook on the nation's A1 rating to positive from stable, citing "very strong and improving" fiscal fundamentals and resilience in its external financing position.
Banks led the advance in Seoul, with KB Financial Group rising 2.8% and Shinhan Financial Group advancing 2.1%. Among exporters, Hyundai Motor gained 3%.
Exporters were also propped up in Tokyo as the yen weakened against the dollar and the euro after the Bank of Japan's tankan survey undershot expectations.
Honda Motor rose 2.1%, Suzuki Motor climbed 2.4% and Canon added 2.1%.
Banking stocks also advanced after the Nikkei reported over the weekend that Japan's top three lenders were expected to post a combined profit of around ¥2 trillion ($24.2 billion) for the year ended March 31, up 30% from the year before.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Holdings Group jumped 3.4%, Mizuho Financial Group climbed 0.7% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group rose 1.7%.
Losses for some property firms kept the Hong Kong market under pressure. Sun Hung Kai Properties fell 2.2%, extending sharp losses made late last week after the arrest of the firm's co-chairmen on suspicion of corruption.
The performance was mixed for other property stocks, with New World Development falling 3.8% but Cheung Hong Kong Holdings and Sino Land adding 1.4% and 2.9%, respectively, to rebound from Friday's losses.
"Not knowing the actual detail of the charges is hurting the other developers as well. What does seem to be coming clear is that these charges could go back to events around 2004," said Andrew Sullivan, principal sales trader at Piper Jaffray.
Tied to the Chinese growth story, some large Australian miners climbed despite a broad decline in Sydney. BHP Billiton rose 1.5%, Rio Tinto advanced 1.2% and Fortescue Metals Group climbed 2.4%.
Shares of Mongolia-focused miner SouthGobi Resources surged 18% in Hong Kong on news that Aluminum Corp. of China, also known as Chalco, had agreed to buy a controlling stake in the company. Chalco shares lost 1.9% after it agreed to pay a nearly 29% premium over SouthGobi's closing share price on Friday.
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