** However, the momentum was offset by some disappointing sub-data, including property investment and industrial output, which pointed to an uneven recovery trend, analysts said.
** China's blue-chip CSI 300 Index edged up 0.08%, while the Shanghai Composite Index was flat.
** The Hang Seng Index lost 0.75%, while Hang Seng
China Enterprises Index slipped 0.71%.
** China's economy grew 4.5% year-on-year in the first three
months of the year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics
showed on Tuesday, faster than the 2.9% reported in the previous
quarter and beating analysts' forecasts of a 4% expansion.
** Industrial output rose 3.9% in March year-on-year,
accelerating from a 2.4% increase in the first two months but
missing expectations slightly.
** "The better-than-expected economic data shatters worries
for a weak recovery, but it's not showing a strong recovery
either," said Tao Chuan, chief macro analyst at Soochow
Securities in Beijing.
** Consumption is strong, which shows demand is picking up,
but we are also seeing structural problems persisting in the
youth unemployment rate, property investment and confidence in
the private sector, Tao added.
** March retail sales rose 10.6%, beating forecasts for a
7.4% increase by a large margin.
** Property investment fell 5.8% from a year earlier in the
first three months of 2023, from a 5.7% decline in
January-February.
** The data is mixed, said Pang Xichun, research director at
Nanjing RiskHunt Investment Management Co.
** "The market is disappointed as property investment fell in the first quarter, which is a surprise after many property policies (that were) rolled out in the past year, while housing sales have rebounded."
** Hong Kong-listed mainland property firms dropped 0.8%, while tech giants declined 1.3%.
** Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions continue to weigh on market sentiment. Taiwan will buy as many as 400 U.S. land-launched Harpoon missiles, Bloomberg News reports. (Reporting by Summer Zhen; editing by Uttaresh Venkateshwaran)
