Seoul, South Korea (BBN)-South Korea's stock market is rising after the country posted better-than-expected growth in the first quarter.
The Kospi is up 0.5% after preliminary data showed the economy expanded by 0.8% in the three months to March, reports BBC.
Economists had forecast seasonally adjusted growth of 0.7% for the period.
Asia's fourth-largest economy received a boost from increased construction and consumer spending, as well as moves by the government to ease housing loan restrictions.
However, growth is widely expected to weaken again in the second quarter.
"The small rebound in first quarter gross domestic product may be temporary," Young Sun Kwon, an economist at Nomura said.
"We expect exports to weaken further in the second quarter on weaker global demand and a strengthening of Korean Won relative to its trading partners.
"Given the still-large levels of economic slack in manufacturing and labour markets, we expect the Bank of Korea to cut the policy rate by 25bp to 1.50% in May to limit downside risks to the economy."
REST OF ASIA
Shares across the rest of Asia are mixed after a closely watched private manufacturing survey reflected more weakness in the Mainland economy.
The flash HSBC China purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 49.2 in April, indicating a contraction in the country's factory sector.
The Shanghai Composite fell 0.5% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng is up 0.4%.
Over in Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 rose by a further 0.4%, after closing above the 20,000-point mark for the first time in 15 years on Wednesday.
In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is trading flat at 5,839.90 points.
BBN/SK/AD-22Apr15-10:00am (BST)