Investing.com - Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday with Sydney down despite robust services indexes at home and in China as investors mull a signal that a widely expected Federal reserve rate hike this year may be soon.
The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.36%, while the Shanghai Composite was down 1.27%. The Nikkei 225 however rose 0.64%.
In Australia, the July AIGroup Services Index jumped to a surprise 54.1 from a June move into expansion at 51.2.
Earlier in New Zealand, the unemployment rate held steady at 5.9%, while the labor cost index rose 1.8% year-on-year for the second quarter, meeting expectations.
In China, the July Caixin General Services PMI came in at 53.8, better than the expected reading of 52.2.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Tuesday, as losses in the Utilities, Technology and Telecoms sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.27%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.22%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.19%.
Atlanta U.S. Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, said the Fed was "close" to being ready to raise short-term rates. Lockhart, a voter this year, is deemed somewhat as a moderate, analysts said, which made his remarks more meaningful.
Overnight, data showed that U.S. factory orders rose broadly in line with expectations in June, while markets continued to eye the release of U.S. non-farm payrolls on Friday.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported on Tuesday that factory orders increased by 1.8% in June, meeting expectations. Factory orders fell by 1.1% in May, whose figure was revised from a previously reported decline of 1.0%.
Investors were looking to the government non-farm payrolls report, due to be released on Friday. The consensus forecast is that the report will show jobs growth of 215,000 last month.
Monthly jobs gains above 200,000 are seen by economists as consistent with strong employment growth.