Asian markets close mostly in green on Tuesday

The Asian equity markets ended mostly in green on Tuesday, taking cues from buoyant US markets and recent data that indicated the global economy may have turned a corner, though wary central banks signalled a recovery may be anything but durable. Japan’s stock exchange was closed on account of ‘Culture Day’ holiday.  China’s private and export-oriented companies saw manufacturing activity shrink again in October although the decline was not as bad as that in the month before, suggesting the economy was stabilizing. The Caixin China Purchasing Managers’ Index landed at 48.3 last month, up from 47.2 in September, to reach a four-month high. South Korea’s annual inflation accelerated to an 11-month high in October, raising the hurdle to further monetary easing as the central bank showed it was wary about taking borrowing costs even lower amid rising household debt and external risks. The consumer price index rose 0.9 percent in October from a year earlier, driven by rising prices in the services sector and marked the fastest rise since November last year. Annual core inflation rose 2.3 percent in October to the highest since February this year. The Bank of Korea promised to keep monetary policy easy, but stopped short of signaling additional rate cuts as it remained wary of rising household debt.