Investing.com Asian shares were narrowly mixed on Wednesday with China getting a boost from lower than expected inflation readings and Japan down on a stronger yen.
Japan's Nikkei 225 eased 0.23%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.44%. In Australia, miners struggled: Newcrest shares fell 2.67%, Evolution Mining was down 0.98% and Kingsgate tumbled 11.39%.
In Greater China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.35% and the Hang Seng index rose 0.68%. Consumer prices rose 0.3% in China on month and at a 1.8% on year, official data showed Wednesday, below the expected 0.4% and 1.9% gains seen respectively.
Overnight, Wall Street closed at record highs on Tuesday led by financials as investors cheered signs the market would deliver a strong quarter of earnings amid a recent raft of corporate earnings that topped expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher at 25,385.80. The S&P 500 closed 0.13% higher, while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 7163.58, up 0.09%.
With just a few days remaining until JPMorgan (NYSE:NYSE:JPM), Blackrock (NYSE:NYSE:BLK) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:NYSE:WFC) unofficially kick off earnings season on Jan. 12, investors piled into financials, driving the broader market higher, betting that banks would deliver a solid quarter of earnings.
The strong day in financials came as Target Corporation (NYSE:NYSE:TGT) reported same-stores sales rose 3.4% during holiday period, topping estimates. That reaffirmed investor expectations for strong quarter for earnings from retailers following Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) bullish update Monday.
Tax reform has been one of the key catalysts supporting sentiment on corporate earnings amid expectations that companies will ramp up share buy backs and capital expenditure, boosting earnings growth.