Investing.com - Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday as investors turned cautious on ahead of the latest review of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.45% after inflation data pointed to a possible rate cut next month. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.37%.
Australia reported first quarter CPI figures that saw a drop of 0.2% quarter-on-quarter, compared to a 0.3% gain seen, and a 1.3% pace seen year-on-year, below the 1.8% rise expected.
Underlying inflation year-on-year - the most important number for the market and the Reserve Bank - was 1.55%, raising the chances of the RBA lowering the cash rate as soon as its May meeting.
Elsewhere, China reported March industrial profits rose 11.1% year-on-year.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.07%, while Kong's Hang Seng index was last down 0.13%.
The yuan rose a little against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday after the People's Bank of China set a stronger fixing for a second consecutive
day at 6.4837 compared with 6.4882.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were mixed on Tuesday, remaining in a tight holding pattern, ahead of a barrage of quarterly earnings from prominent companies after the bell, including: Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Twitter Inc. and eBay Inc (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:EBAY).
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 13.08 or 0.07% to 17,990.32, while the S&P 500 Composite index added 3.91 or 0.19% to 2,091.70, on a quiet day of trading.
Despite the mild gains, the Dow still closed below 18,000 for the third time in four sessions. On the S&P 500, seven of 10 sectors closed in the red, as stocks in the Telecommunications, Health Care and Technology sectors lagged. Stocks in the Energy and Basic Materials led, each gaining more than 1% on the session.
The NASDAQ Composite index, meanwhile, dipped 7.48 or 0.15% to 4,888.31, extending its losing streak to four.