Asian shares mixed with Nikkei down at the break in light data day

Investing.com - Shares in Tokyo eased by the break on Wednesday in a light regional data day.

The Nikkei 225 fell 0.36%, while the Shanghai Composite gained 1.05%.

In Australia. the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.10% despite upbeat views from the central bank on the impact of lower interest rates on housing and spending.

Lower mortgage rates following a cut to the central bank's cash rate to a record low 2.25% in February are expected to boost housing demand further, the Reserve Bank of Australia said Wednesday in its biannual Financial Stability Review.

There was no strong language on housing-market risk in the review but it reiterated the need to monitor this to ensure existing risk in the mortgage market doesn't worsen.

"Indicators of household stress are currently at low levels but could start to increase if labor-market conditions weaken further than currently envisaged," the RBA said.

Overnight, U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Tuesday, as losses in the Utilities, Healthcare and Financials sectors led shares lower.

At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.58%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.61%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.32%.

Data showed that U.S. consumer prices rose 0.2% in February, in line with market expectations, rebounding after a 0.7% decline in January.

Core inflation, which excludes food and energy costs ticked up 0.2% in February after a similar gain in January. Core inflation was up 1.7% from the same month last year, the largest increase since November.

The uptick in underlying inflation indicated that the Fed would still have leeway to tighten monetary policy even with inflation running below target.

A separate report showed that U.S. new home sales jumped 7.8% to an annual unit rate of 539,000 last month, the highest level since February 2008, the Commerce Department said.

In addition, the preliminary reading of the U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 55.3 this month, the highest level since October, from 55.1 in February.