Investing.com - Asian Markets were mixed in morning trade on Wednesday. Chinese stocks were little changed following the release of the country’s latest inflation data.
The Shanghai Composite inched up 0.1% by 10:30 PM ET (02:30 GMT), while the Shenzhen Component slipped 0.1%.
China’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) in June rose 2.7% from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed this morning, in line with expectations.
The country’s Producer Price Index (PPI) in June was unchanged from a year earlier. Markets previously expected PPI to slow to 0.3%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.4%.
On the Sino-U.S. trade front, CNBC cited an unnamed U.S. official and reported that Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke to Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and Commerce Minister Zhong Shan on the phone.
China’s Ministry of Commerce confirmed in a statement that the call took place.
“Both sides will continue these talks as appropriate,” the official said, without providing any further details regarding the conversation between the two sides. U.S. top economic advisor Larry Kudlow previously said there is “no timeline” on the talks and emphasized “quality not speed.”
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.1%, while South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.5%.
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 was up 0.5%.
Investors will now turn their focus to a speech by Federal Reserve Jerome Powell, who is set to get his two-day testimony on Capitol Hill underway on Wednesday at 10:00 AM ET.
His semiannual monetary policy will be closely watched to see whether the central bank will attempt to rein in expectations for aggressive interest rates cuts following the better-than-expected jobs report seen last week.
Investors expect the Fed to cut rates later this month, but hopes for an aggressive 50 basis points cut have faded after the latest jobs data suggested the U.S. economy may to too strong to justify easing.