Investing.com - Shares in Asia were narrowly mixed on Wednesday with Tokyo gaining slightly on a weaker yen and Shanghai taking a breather with investors looking ahead to remarks at the end of the week from the U.S. Fed chief.
The Nikkei 225 rose 0.50. The Shanghai Composite eased 0.14% and the S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.19%.
In Australia, construction work done slumped 3.7% in the second quarter, well below the fall of 1.9% seen quarter-on-quarter. Earlier, in New Zealand, the trade balance for July came in at a deficit of NZ$433 million month-on-month and at a deficit of NZ$3.03 billion year-on-year, both wider than expected.
Attention turns to an annual meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, later this week with investors focused on a speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen on Friday that may confirm and elaborate on recent hawkish statements on the need for a interest rate hike before the end of the year from fellow policymakers.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Oil & Gas and Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.10%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.20%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.30%.