Australia stocks rise as Asia investors await China’s official manufacturing activity data for March

Australia stocks rise as Asia investors await China’s official manufacturing activity data for March

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Thursday morning trade as oil prices fell sharply. In the morning of Asia trading hours, international benchmark fell 3.46% to $109.52 per barrel. dropped 3.84% to $103.68 per barrel. Those losses came after reports that U.S. President administration is considering releasing 1 million barrels of oil per day for several months from the strategic reserve. In the broader Asia-Pacific markets, the in Japan slipped 0.23% while the Topix index dipped 0.33%. South Korea's climbed 0.54%. Meanwhile, the in Australia gained 0.36% as shares of major miners jumped. advanced 2.91% while rose 4.49% and surged 2.08%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded around 0.1% higher. China is set to release its official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index for March at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN. The data release comes after an independent survey by China Beige Book . Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 declined 0.63% to 4,602.45. The Dow Jones Industrial slipped 65.38 points, or 0.19% to 35,228.81. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lagged, dropping 1.21% to about 14,442.28. Currencies The , which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 97.873 as it struggles to recover after dropping from levels