Asian shares mixed after US growth data

HONG KONG: Asian markets were mixed on Monday while the dollar slipped after US economic growth data came in below forecast owing to deep federal spending cuts.

With Tokyo and Shanghai closed and the May Day bank holiday coming up on Wednesday, trading was quiet while there were few other catalysts to drive activity.

Hong Kong added 0.13 percent and Sydney was up 0.52 percent while Seoul was 0.34 percent lower. Singapore was up 0.30 percent.

The main focus was Friday's release in Washington of data showing the world's biggest economy expanded 2.5 percent in the January-March quarter.

While the figures from the Commerce Department marked a solid rebound from 0.4 percent growth in the previous three months, they were lower than the 2.8 percent economists had predicted.

The US economy has been hit by the "sequester" spending cuts worth tens of billions of dollars that kicked in at the start of March and which lawmakers are no closer to resolving owing to political gridlock.

However, the results reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve would not tighten monetary policy in the near future.

Investors are now waiting to see what comes out of the Fed's two-day policy board meeting beginning on Tuesday.