Mixed Results in Asian Markets Despite Positive Chinese Data and Wall Street Earnings

Asian stocks weakened despite better-than-expected Chinese economic data as signs of patchiness in the country's recovery weighed on investor sentiment. China's economy grew 4.5% year-on-year for the first quarter, eclipsing the expectations of most economists. The mixed market performance was the result of some underlying Chinese data falling below expectations, despite the strong headline results. The better-than-expected data failed to fire up a sustained rally in regional equities.