Investing.com - Asia markets traded mixed on Tuesday, with most outside of Tokyo opening after a long may Day weekend and coming off a solid overnight session in the U.S.
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 070%, while the Hang Seng index rose 0.37%, while the Shanghai Composite bucked the momentum and fell 0.14%.
In Asia, the Bank of Japan released minutes from its March policy meeting and policymakers agreed to closely monitor consumer prices because they currently lack upward momentum. The minutes repeated earlier phrasing that over time, consumer prices will reach the central bank's 2 percent inflation target but the BOJ needs to continue with its quantitative easing, according to the minutes.
Last week on April 27, the Bank of Japan raised its economic forecasts at its policy meeting outcome on Thursday, but it kept policy steady, as was widely expected.
As well, the Caixin manufacturing PMI for April came in at 50.3, compared with an expected level of 51.2, taking the measure to a seven-month low. The figures follow official data released on Sunday China's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to a six-month low of 51.2 in April from March's near five-year high of 51.8. The private sector Caixin/Markit PMI manufacturing survey focuses more on small and mid-sized firms.
In Australia, S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.59%. Later, the Reserve Bank of Australia releases its latest monetary policy review with most analysts expecting it to hold steady at a record low 1.5%.
Overnight, the dollar traded higher against a basket of major currencies on Monday, despite the release of downbeat economic data while bullish comments from
Overnight, U.S. stocks closed mostly higher on Monday, as the risk-on trade continued into the month of May, despite the release of bearish economic data and comments from President Donald Trump who said on Monday that he's considering breaking up the big Wall Street banks.
“I’m looking at that right now,” Trump said Monday in an interview with Bloomberg. “There’s some people that want to go back to the old system, right? So we’re going to look at that.”
After an initial dip, banking stocks recovered to close near session highs. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:NYSE:GS), Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC), and Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:NYSE:WFC) closed in positive territory for the session.
Meanwhile, weaker than expected manufacturing and construction spending data failed to have a meaningful impact on sentiment as investors look ahead to a slew of important economic data expected later this week.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of national factory activity dropped to a reading of 54.8 last month, the weakest reading since December, from 57.2 in March.
In a separate report, the Commerce Department said U.S. construction spending slipped 0.2 percent for the month of March. Analysts' had forecast a slower decline to 0.4% from 1.8% a month earlier.
Several key economic data are scheduled to be released later this week, including nonfarm payrolls for April and a Fed rate decision, which is widely expected to remain unchanged.
On the corporate earnings front, investors anticipated a quarterly earnings release from Apple Inc (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:AAPL), after the U.S. markets close on Tuesday.
Apple is expected to report fiscal second quarter earnings per share of $2.01 on revenues of $52.6 billion.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.13% lower at 20,913. The S&P 500 gained 0.17% and the Nasdaq Composite closed an all-time high of 6091.60, up 0.73%.