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Hong Kong - Asian markets mostly rose on Tuesday in the first full session after the Easter break, but Japanese shares sank for a second straight day as the yen extended its recent gains.
The greenback came under renewed selling pressure after a weak set of US manufacturing data raised concerns about the economy, while the euro remains under pressure owing to political deadlock in Italy.
Tokyo fell 0.23% by the break, but Hong Kong climbed 0.41%, Shanghai added 0.55%, Sydney was 0.42% higher and Seoul was flat.
Regional markets staged a slight rebound after suffering a sell-off over the past few weeks on the back of the bailout saga in Cyprus, which raised fears the eurozone crisis could flare up again, while Italy struggles to form a government more than a month after an election.
An improvement in manufacturing activity across Asia, including China, provided a little support, but news of a slowdown in the United States weighed on sentiment.
The US Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing sector activity index came in at 51.3 in March, below the 54.0 percent expected by analysts.
While anything above 50 indicates growth, the slowdown has raised fears over the strength of recovery in the world's number one economy.
On Wall Street the Dow dipped 0.04 percent the S&P 500 gave up 0.45%, in the first trading session since the two indexes closed at record highs on Thursday. The Nasdaq sank 0.87%.
In New York forex trade Monday the dollar slipped to ¥93.27 from ¥94.20 at the end of last week, while the euro also edged up to $1.2847 from $1.2818.
By mid-morning on Tuesday in Tokyo the greenback was quoted at ¥93.07, while the euro sat at $1.2865.
The single currency was also ¥119.73 on Tuesday, from ¥119.82 on Monday.
The recent pick-up in the yen has hit Tokyo shares, which enjoyed a near 20% rise over the first three months of 2013.
Investors have decided to shift back into the yen after selling it for several months on expectations the Bank of Japan's new governor will introduce a more aggressive monetary easing policy.
Haruhiko Kuroda will lead his first policy meeting this week but analysts say markets have already priced in big spending measures and anything he announces will likely fall short of most expectations.
Oil prices slipped, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May shedding 24 cents to $96.83 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for May delivery dropping 20 cents to $110.88.
Gold was at $1 601.20 an ounce at 02:50 GMT compared with $1 597.90 late on Monday.
