<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Asian stocks were broadly up on Wednesday to buck losses on Wall Street, led by massive gains for Chinese tech behemoth Alibaba after it announced it would split into six business groups.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The Hangzhou-based firm said the changes were intended to "unlock shareholder value and foster market competitiveness".</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Alibaba is one of China's most prominent tech firms, with operations spanning cloud computing, e-commerce, logistics, media and entertainment, and artificial intelligence.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">By 10 am Wednesday (0200 GMT), its Hong Kong-listed shares were up by nearly 14 percent. Its New York-listed shares were also up in the previous session.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Investors could get hyped on the positive side in the short term," said Willer Chen, senior research analyst at Forsyth Barr Asia.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Alibaba's shakeup plan may also lead investors to think of the potential for other tech firms like Tencent to follow suit."</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Tencent and Baidu also advanced, as did Tokyo-listed Softbank, which owns a large stake in Alibaba.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">By mid-morning, the Hang Seng Index was up by more than two percent.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was up by just under half a percentage point, while Taipei and Bangkok also rose.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Shanghai and Sydney posted small losses.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Following a flattish day on European bourses Tuesday, US stock indices finished modestly lower, shrugging off a better-than-expected consumer confidence reading.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The closely watched consumer confidence index increased in March to 104.2 from 103.4 last month, The Conference Board said in a statement.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"While consumers feel a bit more confident about what's ahead, they are slightly less optimistic about the current landscape," said Ataman Ozyildirim, senior director for economics at The Conference Board.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">All three major US indices declined, with the S&amp;P 500 losing 0.2 percent.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The gains followed last week's rout over concerns that the turmoil in the sector -- which sparked the UBS takeover of Credit Suisse -- could hit other major institutions, such as German giant Deutsche Bank.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, whose institution ramped up interest rates last week, sounded a note of caution over banking-sector upheaval.</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"We are very vigilant. We are in a period of tension, tightness and alertness," he told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">He added: "My very strong view about the UK banking system is that it is in a strong position, both capital and liquidity wise."</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">- Key figures around 0215 GMT -</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.39 percent at 27,625.99</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 2.06 percent at 20,191.68</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.16 percent at 3,240.21</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 7,484.25 (close)</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">New York - Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 32,394.25 (close)</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0839 from $1.0850</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2328 from $1.2341</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Euro/pound: UP at 87.92 from 87.89 pence</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Dollar/yen: UP at 131.63 yen from 130.90 yen</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.59 percent at $73.63 per barrel</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.33 percent at $78.91 per barrel</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">-- Bloomberg News contributed to this story - AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>