Markets mostly rose Thursday in Asia as investors tentatively returned to buying after recent losses, with Chinese property firms enjoying a much-needed lift on fresh easing measures by the country's central bank.

The People's Bank of China on Thursday lowered its mortgage reference rate for the second time in nearly two years. The move followed a surprise cut to the central bank's rate for one-year medium-term loans on Monday.

China's blue-chip CSI300 index rose more than 1 percent on Thursday and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up nearly 3 percent in afternoon trading. Shares of Chinese property developers boosted gains in the broad index amid hopes that government measures would help ease a funding squeeze in the embattled sector.

The rise in Chinese shares lifted MSCI's broadest index of Asian shares outside Japan 1 percent higher.

The gains in Asia came after investors on Wall Street looked past robust earnings at the outlook for inflation and rate rises.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.96 percent and the S&P 500 lost 0.97 percent. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.15 percent, putting it more than 10 percent below its November 19 record closing high to confirm a correction.

In commodity markets, oil prices remained elevated after touching their highest levels since 2014 on Wednesday on strong demand and short-term supply disruptions. Global benchmark Brent crude was last down 0.1 percent at $88.36 per barrel and U.S. crude rose 0.36 percent to $87.27 per barrel.

(With input from agencies)