The dollar held up against the yen, with traders eyeing US President Barack Obama's visit to Asia that starts in Japan later in the day.
Tokyo rose 1.09 percent, or 157.50 points, to 14,546.27 and Sydney added 0.7 percent, or 38.5 points, to 5,517.8. Seoul lost 0.19 percent, or 3.85 points, to end at 2,000.37.
Hong Kong slipped 0.97 percent, or 221.04 points, to 22,509.64 and Shanghai fell 0.26 percent, or 5.45 points, to 2,067.38.
HSBC said its preliminary purchasing managers index (PMI) for China came in at 48.3 in April, up from 48.0 in March.
While the figures point to a continuing contraction in manufacturing activity in the Asian economic giant, the rate has slowed.
A figure below 50 suggests shrinkage, while anything above points to growth.
The result will provide little comfort to traders about the Chinese economy after data last week showed it grew 7.4 percent year-on-year in January-March, more than expected but down from the previous three months.
"Domestic demand showed mild improvement and deflationary pressures eased, but downside risks to growth are still evident as both new export orders and employment contracted," HSBC economist Qu Hongbin said in a statement, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
Eyes are now on the release of early PMI figures for Europe and the United States later in the day after recent figures have pointed to a pick-up in the global economy.
On currency markets the dollar bought 102.58 yen against 102.60 yen in New York Tuesday, while the euro bought $1.3819 and 141.76 yen, compared with $1.3804 and 141.65 yen.
The Australian dollar fell to 93.14 US cents from 93.75 cents after data showed Australian inflation was lower than expected in the first three months of the year.
In New York Tuesday the three main indexes enjoyed another positive day following a series of deals between pharmaceutical giants Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly that shuffled more than $20 billion in assets.
Added to that were solid or strong earnings from Comcast, Lockheed Martin, Netflix, Travelers and Xerox, among others.
The S&P 500 added 0.41 percent and the Nasdaq jumped 0.97 percent, with each index clocking up a sixth successive advance after suffering heavy selling earlier this month.
The Dow climbed 0.40 percent, a third straight gain.
Analysts will be watching Obama's Japan visit for any mention of a planned Pacific-wide trade zone. Negotiations have stumbled in recent weeks over differences between the US and Japan on the auto and agriculture sectors.
Oil prices were mixed. New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for June delivery, dipped five cents to $101.70 and Brent North Sea crude for June rose 10 cents to $109.37.
Gold fetched $1,286.71 an ounce at 1050 GMT, compared with $1,291.73 on Tuesday.
In other markets:
Bangkok added 0.59 percent or 8.34 points to 1,423.39.
-- Airports of Thailand gained 2.33 percent to 197.50 baht, while hospital firm Bangkok Dusit Medical Services rose 5.30 percent to 139.00 baht.
-- Jakarta closed down 0.10 percent, or 5.06 points, to 4893.15.
-- Sinar Mas Agro Resources lost 1.52 percent at 6,500 rupiah, while Indorama Synthetics climbed 10.42 percent to 795 rupiah.
-- Kuala Lumpur's main stock index ended flat at 1,867.35, inching up a mere 0.93 points or 0.05 percent.
Budget carrier AirAsia gained 0.9 percent to 2.32 ringgit, while Malayan Banking rose 0.1 percent to 10.00. Public Bank fell 0.5 percent to 20.28 ringgit.
-- Mumbai rose 0.52 percent to end at 22,876.54 points. It had touched a new high of 22,912.52 points briefly during the session.
Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals jumped 16.17 percent to 63.95 rupees, while Future Retail rose 6.17 percent to 120.40 rupees.
-- Singapore closed down 0.60 percent, or 19.52 points, at 3,258.01.
Singapore Airlines was up 0.10 percent to Sg$10.35, while oil-rig maker Keppel Corp eased 3.45 percent to Sg$10.63.
-- Taipei fell 0.20 percent, or 17.79 points, to 8,956.92.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was off 0.41 percent at Tw$121.0 while Fubon Financial Holdings shed 1.33 percent to Tw$40.75.
-- Wellington rose 0.74 percent, or 37.98 points, to 5,142.92.
Telecom was up 0.38 percent at NZ$2.635 and Fletcher Building climbed 1.46 percent to NZ$9.74.
-- Manila closed 0.23 percent lower, giving up 15.43 points to 6,769.52.
Philippine Long Distance Telephone ended 0.62 percent down at 2,876.00 pesos, Ayala Land dropped 0.49 percent to 30.55 pesos and LT Group finished 0.43 percent off at 18.68 pesos.(AFP)
