Asia stocks mostly rise; Japan misses out

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) � Most Asian markets rallied Tuesday on signs of strength in a gauge of U.S. manufacturing, with Hong Kong stocks rebounding after a four-day losing streak, while Japanese stocks declined on a strengthened yen.

Hong Kong�s Hang Seng Index HK:HSI �climbed 1.3% to 20,790.98 and South Korea�s Kospi KR:SEU �rose 1% to 2,049.28. The S&P/ASX 200 index AU:XJO ended 0.2% higher at 4,337 in Sydney, coming off the day�s highs after the Reserve Bank of Australia left its benchmark interest rates unchanged.

On the downside, Japan�s Nikkei Stock Average JP:100000018 fell 0.6% to 10,050.39, while Taiwan�s Taiex XX:Y9999 �gave up 1.3% to 7,760.85 on worries the government may propose a capital gains tax.

Mainland Chinese bourses, which remained closed for a holiday, are set to reopen Thursday, with Hong Kong and Taiwanese markets also shut on Wednesday. Many regional markets will be closed on Friday and Monday for Easter or other local holidays.

Ben Kwong, chief operating officer at KGI Asia, attributed the bounce to generally positive economic numbers from the U.S. and China, but added investors were also cautious ahead of upcoming holidays.

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�We are approaching a long holiday so investors just prefer to stay on the sidelines. They are waiting for next week when there will be more economic news,� said Kwong.

The day�s broad gains came after U.S. stocks stretched their best three-month performance since 1998 into the second quarter.

Stock gains in Sydney narrowed after the Australian central bank left its policy interest rate unchanged at 4.25%, as expected. But the RBA said the pace of output growth was expected to be �somewhat lower than earlier estimated,� and chose to await forthcoming data on prices to assess its outlook for inflation. Read more about the RBA decision.

Miners pared their advance, while some banks retreated after the decision. Rio Tinto Ltd. AU:RIO �RIO �climbed 0.9% and BHP Billiton Ltd. AU:BHP �BHP �rose 0.2%, but off their respective peaks for the day. Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. AU:ANZ �ANZBY �and Bank of Queensland Ltd. AU:BOQ �shed 0.3% and 1.5%, respectively.

A weaker U.S. dollar helped to support many resource stocks in the region. In Hong Kong, with Jiangxi Copper Co. HK:358 JIXAY CN:600362 jumping 4.7% and PetroChina Co. PTR �HK:857 �adding 1.6%.

Property stocks and banks also got a lift after recent declines, with China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. HK:688 �CAOVF adding 5.3%, China Resources Land Ltd. CRBJY HK:1109 �climbing 5.1%, and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. IDCBY �HK:1398 �advancing 2%.

South Korean automakers jumped ahead of U.S. auto sales due out later in the global day. Hyundai Motor Co. HYMTF surged 6.3%, while Kia Motors Corp. KIMTF �added 3.4%.

Deutsche Bank analysts said that they�re expecting solid first-quarter earnings from South Korean car makers �on the back of sales growth at auto original-equipment manufacturers.� Read preview of U.S. car sales.

Semiconductor firms rose in Seoul after the advance on Wall Street, but broader market losses hurt weighed on them in Tokyo and Taipei.

South Korea�s Samsung Electronics Co. SSNLF climbed 2.8%, while Renesas Electronics Corp. JP:6723 �fell 1.1% in Japan and Nanya Technology Corp. slumped 6.8% in Taiwan.

A stronger yen also weighed on Japanese exporters. Toyota Motor Corp. JP:7203 �TM �lost 0.3% and Sony Corp. JP:6758 SNE �surrendered 0.6%.

Olympus Corp. JP:7733 �OCPNF �finished 0.1% higher, overcoming losses suffered earlier in the day after former president and chief executive officer Michael Woodford was quoted by Kyodo News as promising a �surprise� action at an extraordinary shareholder meeting set for April 20. See report on Olympus ex-CEO planning surprise move.

Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. JP:8830 SURDF fell 3.6% after the Nikkei business daily reported that the firm was planning to build five major real-estate projects in Tokyo at a cost of more than �600 billion ($7.3 billion).