Asia-Pacific markets rebounded following a sell-off in the previous session, as investors digest comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
Powell said it would take a while for policymakers to evaluate the current state of inflation, keeping the timing of potential interest rate cuts uncertain.
In Asia, investors assessed March service sector activity data from India, as well as retail sales numbers from Hong Kong.
In Japan, the Nikkei restored 321.29 points, or 0.8%, to 39,773.14.
Markets in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taiwan were closed for holiday.
The Kospi was powered by expectations that heavyweight Samsung Electronics will post a near nine-fold increase in its first-quarter profit from a year earlier. Samsung shares climbed 1.43%.
Australia rose after clocking losses for two days.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi index gained 35.03 points, or 1.3%, to 2,742.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index regained 12.35 points, or 0.4%, to 3,235.01.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 lost 5.22 points to 12,035.27
In Australia, the ASX 200 recovered 34.8 points, or 0.5%, to 7,817.34.
