SEOUL (Reuters) - Oil prices rose for a second day on Wednesday on signs of strong demand from refineries in China, the world’s second-largest crude user, amid tightening supply as producers curtail output and as oil inventories in the United States fell unexpectedly.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s economy grew 6.4 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, official data showed on Wednesday, above expectations and steady from the previous quarter, helped by sharply higher factory production.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s exports fell for a fourth straight month in March as China-bound shipments slumped again, reinforcing growing anxiety that weak external demand may have knocked the economy into contraction in the first quarter.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China is expected to report on Wednesday that economic growth slowed to its weakest pace in at least 27 years in the first quarter, as policymakers seek to head off a sharper slowdown that could stoke job losses.

SEOUL (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Wednesday, supported by concerns over tightening global supply due to U.S. sanctions and fighting in Libya, as well as an unexpected fall in U.S. crude inventories.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian share markets got off to a guarded start on Wednesday as investors waited anxiously for a raft of Chinese data that might show policy stimulus is finally gaining traction in the world’s second-largest economy.