Positive news on Chinese trade and South Korean growth buoyed sentiment on Friday even as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said it saw little evidence of a global economic recovery in the making.

Beijing said March shipments were down 17.1 per cent from a year before, an improvement on February’s 25.7 per cent slide. Meanwhile, South Korea’s central bank said its economy squeezed out 0.2 per cent sequential growth in the first quarter after contracting rapidly in late 2008.