Asian stock markets are monitoring developments in China

Hong Kong shares rose 4% in the Asian session. The focus on Asian stock markets remains on China’s Covid situation. Hong Kong stocks led the Asia-Pacific’s mixed session on Tuesday after a dismal start to the week as investors watched for developments in China’s Covid-restricted protests. The major U.S. indexes each lost about 1.5%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 3% in early trade and the Hang Seng Tech index added 5.3%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite added 0.6% and the Shenzhen Composite added 1.03%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.11%. South Korea’s Kospi was trading 0.32% higher. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares added 0.94%. Meanwhile, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.53 percent and the Topix fell 0.52 percent as retail sales data missed expectations and the country's unemployment rate remained unchanged from September.