Asian Shares Mixed Ahead Of US Inflation Data

Asian stocks ended mixed on Wednesday as investors monitored oil price movements and awaited the U.S. CPI report later in the day for additional clues on the Federal Reserve’s rate trajectory.

The dollar was firm in Asia trade while gold traded at $4,405 an ounce, rising towards a 10-week high on receding Fed hike bets.

Brent crude futures rose nearly 1 percent to $89.60 a barrel, building on recent gains despite comments by Pakistan’s defense minister Khawaja Asif that the U.S. and Iran are close to “some sort of an arrangement” and that “things are shaping up again in favor of a peace arrangement or a deal.”