People visit the Kartavya Path in the early evening in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. India has overtaken China as the world’s most populous nation, according to UN data released on April 19. Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Asia-Pacific markets rebounded following a sell-off in the previous session, as investors digest comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
Powell said it would take a while for policymakers to evaluate the current state of inflation, keeping the timing of potential interest rate cuts uncertain.
In Asia, investors will assess March service sector activity data from India, as well as retail sales numbers from Hong Kong.
Markets in Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan are closed for a public holiday.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.49%, after clocking losses for two days.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.34% and was hovering near the 40,000 mark, while the broad-based Topix rose 1.05%
South Korea’s Kospi also gained 1.22%, powered by expectations that heavyweight Samsung Electronics will post a near nine-fold increase in its first-quarter profit from a year earlier. Samsung shares climbed 1.55% on its open.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.11%, to mark its third straight negative day. The S&P 500 inched higher by 0.11% in its first winning session of the week, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up by 0.23%.
— CNBC’s Sarah Min and Alex Harring contributed to this report