GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks up but investors worry about rate hikes, China lockdowns

Asia stocks rose on Wednesday even as central banks piled into aggressive rate hikes to battle soaring inflation and left investors worried about slower global growth. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.72%, with Australian shares up 0.72%, Seoul adding 0.84% and Taiwan advancing 1.07%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng and China's main indexes also traded higher, while Japan's Nikkei share average slipped 0.04%.