Beijing's official measure of manufacturing activity (PMI) came in at 50.4 in April, up a tick from March but under forecasts of 50.5. The middling outcome was not enough to lessen concerns about the economy, but neither did it point to a deepening slowdown.
There was also better news from South Korea as its exports grew at their strongest annual pace in over a year, suggesting the recovery in global demand was gathering pace after a soft start to the year.
The conflicted mood was clear in the Australian dollar, often a bellwether for market thinking on China given the country is a major exporter of resources to the Asian giant.
After an initial dip to $0.9279 on the PMI, the currency quickly rebounded to $0.9300 to be a shade firmer on the day. The reaction in share markets was modest given most in the region were off on holiday.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 was up 0.4 percent, while Australian shares .AXJO eased 0.4 percent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS barely budged.
Sentiment had been supported somewhat by Wall Street where the Dow notched up its first record high of the year. The Dow .DJI ended up 0.27 percent, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq .IXIC 0.27 percent.
Source: Reuters
