The Wall Street Journal reports,"Japanese and Australian stocks moved higher on Tuesday, recovering from heavy selling in recent sessions, while Hong Kong shares were lower ahead of Wednesday's headline growth figures from China".
""The region took a positive lead from the U.S., where Wall Street snapped a two-day losing streak on Monday, as investors welcomed a larger-than-expected rise in March retail sales—suggesting that consumer demand in the world's largest economy is reheating after a cold winter.
Japan's Nikkei was up 1% after the dollar rose 0.2% against the yen on Monday. The dollar was last steady at ¥101.87.
Elsewhere, Australia's S&P ASX 200 added 0.6%, South Korea's Kospi was up 0.1%, and Singapore's Straits Times Index added 0.8%"".
The main economic event this week for Asian markets will come on Wednesday morning, when China releases its first-quarter growth numbers. Persistent concerns over the state over the Chinese economy have weighed on stocks, especially in Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index is down 5.8% year-to-date.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect China's economy to post a 7.3% increase for the first three months of the year, below the official 7.5% expansion target.
Stocks in both Hong Kong and Shanghai were lower ahead of the growth numbers. The Hang Seng Index lost 0.4%, the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 0.6% and the Shanghai Composite fell by 0.6%.
