Investing.com - Shares in Asia were narrowly-mixed on Tuesday with Shanghai gaining slightly after consumer and producer prices data that for now does not change the outlook on easy monetary policy in China.
The Shanghai Composite Index was last up 0.15%, while the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index edged down 0.32%. The yuan was barely changed against the dollar Tuesday after the People's Bank of China slightly strengthened the fixing at 6.6594, compared with a central parity of 6.6615 on Monday.
China reported CPI for July with a 0.2% gain in July, a faster pace than the 0.1% gain seen month-on-month and an annual level of 1.7%, a tad below a 1.8% pace seen year-on-year. PPI figures from China showed a decline of 1.7%, less than the fall of 2.0% year-on-year expected.
In Australia, NAB business confidence came in at plus-4 for July, compared with a previous reading of plus-6, along with the NAB business survey that reached plus-8, compared with a previous reading of plus-12.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.09%, while the Nikkei 225 gained 0.11%.
Overnight, U.S. stocks fell slightly on Monday, erasing some of their sharp gains from late last weeks, as investors resumed their pattern of range-bound, sideways trading, which has proliferated for the majority of the last month following a Post-Brexit surge at the start of the summer.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 14.24 or 0.08% to 18,529.29, suffering marginal losses one session after soaring more than 1% last Friday. Stocks failed to sustain momentum from Friday's rally brought about by a robust U.S. jobs report for the month of July that helped provide a considerable tailwind to slumping financial stocks. The NASDAQ Composite index lost 7.98 or 0.15% to 5,213.14, while the S&P 500 Composite index dipped by 1.98 or 0.09% to 2,180.89, each retreating from record closing highs from the prior session.