Asian shares mixed after stocks retreat on Wall Street

Shares were mixed in Asia on Wednesday after a wobbly day on Wall Street closed out a month buffeted by worries about a possible recession, inflation and rising interest rates.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 advanced 0.7% to 27,457.89. Japan’s parliament late Tuesday enacted a $21 billion extra budget to tackle soaring fuel and food prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The extra budget, for the current fiscal year that started April 1, will fund part of a $48 billion emergency economic package the government adopted in April. It includes subsidies to oil wholesalers to minimize the impact on consumers.

In Sydney, the S&P/ASX edged 0.1% higher, to 7,219.30, after the government reported the economy expanded at a 3.2% annualized rate, or 0.8% quarterly rate, in the first quarter of the year.

That was slower than the 3.6% growth in the last quarter of 2021 but still relatively strong, analysts said.

“The solid rise in Q1 GDP supports our view that the economy will hold up better in the face of rising interest rates and falling real incomes than most anticipate," Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics said in a note.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.7% to 21,255.95 and the Shanghai Composite index shed 0.3% to 3,175.68. Both indexes rose sharply on Tuesday as Shanghai eased its stringent anti-virus limits on businesses and other activities.

South Korea's markets were closed for a holiday. India's benchmark rose while Taiwan and Thailand declined.

Oil prices were little changed after falling back from nearly $120 per barrel on Tuesday, when prices surged after the European Union agreed to block the majority of oil imports from Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine.

Benchmark U.S. crude lost 2 cents to $114.65 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile...