Mixed Trends Despite Positive Offshore Lead, Japan & HK Underperform

Asia Pac equities are mixed, underperforming the better trend from US/EU equities seen through Wednesday's session. US futures have been slightly negative during today's session, but haven't been a strong negative headwind. Eminis sit close to highs for the week. Weakness has been notable in Japan and Hong Kong stocks today.

• The Japan Topix is off around 1% at this stage, although part of this appears technical in nature. The majority of stocks traded on the index have gone ex-dividend.
• The HSI is down around 0.70% at the stage, despite further gains by Alibaba. The Tech index is off by 1.1%, unwinding some of the recent outperformance.
• China stocks are modestly lower (CSI 300 -0.18% at this stage), even Premier Li delivered an upbeat speech (economy better in March compared to January/February).
• The Kospi and Taiex are both higher, following the positive tech lead from Wednesday's US session.
• The ASX 200 has outperformed, up close to 1%, while NZ stocks gained 1.67%.