China outlook weighs on Asian stocks Tuesday 04:15 BST. Asian stocks fell as a reading on China's manufacturing sector that suggested growth slowed this month added to concern about the outlook for the world's second-largest economy. The preliminary reading of HSBC Holdings and Markit Economics" Purchasing Managers" Index fell to 50.5 in April from 51.6 in March. The data are the first peek at economic data from China for April, giving investors an opportunity to assess the heath of Asia's largest economy after first-quarter growth missed market estimates. The Shanghai Composite index dropped 1.4 per cent in response and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index retreated 0.7 per cent. Investors were also focusing on corporate earnings, sending Anhui Conch Cement down by 4 per cent in Shanghai after China's largest cement producer by sales said first-quarter net profit fell 22 per cent from a year earlier. China Mobile shed 1 per cent after the telecoms operator reported stagnant earnings in the first quarter. The Australian market outperformed regional peers with the S&P/ASX 200 index up 0.9 per cent as bank shares provided some support. Australia & New Zealand Banking Group rose 1.6 per cent. Woodside Petroleum soared 8.4 per cent after the oil producer offered a special dividend to its shareholders. But Newcrest Mining slid 2.6 per cent after the gold miner said in its quarterly report that it was assessing the scope of its operations, considering the sharp fall in gold prices. BHP Billiton was down 1 per cent. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average retreated 0.3 per cent after Monday's 1.9 per cent jump, with the yen little changed against the US dollar at Y99.23. ANA Holdings advanced 1 per cent on a Nikkei report that the airline is likely to post a record profit for a second straight year. South Korea's Kospi Composite index lost 0.6 per cent. In the commodities markets, spot gold recovered some ground after last week's tumble, trading at $1,425.24 an ounce after hitting a two-year low of $1,321.35 last week. Brent crude futures turned lower, trading down 0.3 percent at $100.14 while US crude retreated 0.3 per cent to $88.90 a barrel. Earlier, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 rose as much as 1 per cent before paring its advance to end 0.2 per cent higher. The CBoE Vix volatility index - Wall Street""s "fear gauge" - fell 4 per cent. But a broadly hesitant tone for global equity markets helped sustain demand for highly rated government bonds. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury was down 1 basis point at 1.70 per cent while that on the German Bund fell 2bp to 1.23 per cent. Additional reporting by Dave Shellock in London