Asia-Pacific stock indexes rose Wednesday morning, with lower bond yields easing some investors’ fears of an interest rate hike-induced recession.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index added 1.00% by 22:28 Eastern Time (02:28 GMT). Beating market expectations, government data released this morning showed that Japan’s GDP contracted at an annualized rate of 0.5% in January-March, less than the preliminary forecast of a 1.0% drop released last month. The country’s GDP fell 0.1% from the previous quarter.

The yen continued to fall after hitting a 20-year low.

South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.45%.

Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.81%. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised its interest rate to 0.85% on Tuesday, above Investing.com’s forecast of 0.60.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 1.98%.

China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.52% and the Shenzhen Component gained 0.57%.

The S&P 500 rose, reversing last week’s losses with sequential gains, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 also rose.

U.S.-listed Chinese stocks rose for a second straight day amid expectations of an easing of the government’s year-long crackdown on the technology industry.

Yields on U.S. Treasury securities rose. Target Corp’s latest profit forecast outlined a gloomy outlook for U.S. consumer spending, sending yields on 10-year bonds below the 3% level.

Investors are concerned that further interest rate hikes could slow the economy and will now turn their attention to Friday’s U.S. consumer price index (CPI) for more clues on interest rate moves.

“It’s getting harder and harder to determine direction over the next few months,” the head of thematic strategy for global distribution at BlackRock Inc. said in an interview with Bloomberg. Kate Moore.

“There seems to be a lack of firm conviction in all investment segments about the direction of the market. We see many more investors staying on the sidelines, remaining cautious.”

The European Central Bank will make its decision as early as this Thursday and will also announce a halt to bond purchases this week.

The World Bank cut its estimate for global growth this year to 2.9 percent from its January forecast of 4.1 percent because of surging commodity prices, supply disruptions and central banks’ actions to raise interest rates.