Asia-Pacific markets closed mixed with mainland China stocks bucking the trend on Wednesday, following a slew of economic data out of Japan.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index declined 329.83 points, or 0.9%, to 38,617.10, in spite of a slight improvement in business sentiment, with the Reuters Tankan non-manufacturing index coming in at +26.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dropped 25.02 points, or 0.1%, to 19,195.60.
Shares of Xpeng soared more than 13% in Hong Kong trade on Wednesday, after the Chinese EV maker reported an improvement in profit margin and an upbeat outlook for second-quarter deliveries.
U.S.-listed shares had climbed by nearly 6% in U.S. trade Tuesday after reporting first-quarter results.
Xpeng reported that vehicle margin — a measure of profitability — rose 5.5% in the first three months of the year, from a negative 2.5% in the prior quarter.
New Zealand’s S&P/NZ50 inched up after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand held official cash rate unchanged at 5.5% for the seventh consecutive time.
In other markets
Markets in Singapore were shuttered for holiday.
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 recovered 8.29 points, or 0.2%, to 3,684,45.
In Korea, the Kospi index lost 0.72 points to 2,723.46.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index hiked 315.08 points, or 1.5%, to 21,551.83.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 index moved forward 56.29 points, or 0.5%, to 11,732.28.
In Australia, the ASX 200 ditched 3.54 points, or 0.1%, to 7,848.14.
