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Mainland Chinese shares were mixed in early trade, with the Shanghai composite slipping 0.15 percent and the Shenzhen component rising fractionally. The Shenzhen composite gained 0.378 percent.
Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index declined 0.13 percent.
China is set to report its GDP figures for its first quarter later at 10:00 a.m. HK/SIN today. Analysts polled by Reuters expect China to report growth of 6.3 percent in the January-March quarter as compared to a year ago — that would be the slowest pace since the first quarter of 1992, the earliest quarterly data on record.
On Tuesday, China released housing price data, reporting that average new home prices rose faster in March compared to a month earlier, according to Reuters’ calculation of data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
“The housing data was interpreted as yet another signal that the China’s policy stimuli are beginning to show a positive effect on the economy,” Rodrigo Catril, senior foreign exchange strategist at National Australia Bank, wrote in a morning note.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.17 percent in morning trade, with shares of index heavyweight Fanuc rising. The Topix index also added 0.19 percent.
Over in South Korea, the Kospi declined 0.11 percent.
Meanwhile, the ASX 200 in Australia fell around 0.3 percent as the sectors mostly slipped.
DuluxGroup, Australia’s largest paint maker, backed a A$3.81 billion (approx. $2.73 billion) takeover proposal from Japan-based Nippon Paint, Reuters reported. Shares of Dulux soared more than 26 percent following that announcement, while Nippon Paint dropped beyond 3 percent.
Nippon’s offer for Dulux comes as the Australian group’s revenue growth slows and building materials suppliers face strong headwinds as an east-coast homebuilding boom winds down and home values drop sharply, according to Reuters.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 97.062 after seeing lows around 96.8 earlier in the trading week.
The Japanese yen traded at 111.99 against the dollar as it continued to trade in a range around the 112.0 handle. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7159 following yesterday’s slip to levels around $0.714.
Oil prices rose in the morning of Asian trading hours, with the international benchmark Brent crude futures gaining 0.17 percent to $71.84 per barrel and U.S. crude futures adding 0.5 percent to $64.37 per barrel.