Investing.com - Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday with Tokyo down on comments that suggested further policy action to boost the economy.
The Nikkei 225 dropped 1.45% as investors trimmed positions while awaiting details as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed the government would continue to work closely with the Bank of Japan to boost growth and prices.
The Shanghai Composite rose 0.11% as investors monitored liqudity ahead of a major holiday period next week. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.01%.
Earlier, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said Tuesday that the U.S. economy has started to generate better wages, but he would like to see
them going higher. "Finally incomes of working people began to rise faster than incomes of people higher up" on the income scale, Fischer said while answering questions at Howard University after a speech.
However, the former IMF chief economist said his comments were general in nature and when asked about the possibility of a no-interest rate economy said: "I don't like it." He said the point on rates however was not about monetary policy in the U.S.
Also on the radar of the markets, OPEC members, led by Saudi Arabia and other big Middle East crude exporters, such as Iran and Iraq, will meet non-OPEC producer Russia at the International Energy Forum in Algeria on Wednesday at 14:00GMT (10:00AM ET).
Overnight, U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Technology, Consumer Services and Healthcare sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.74%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.64%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.92%.