Investing.com - Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday with a European Central Bank review , testimony by fired FBI chief James Comey and the U.K. election all scheduled for Thursday creating potential market risks.
Japan's Nikkei 225 eased 0.22%. South Korea's Kospi re-opened down 0.60% after a public holiday.
The S&P/ASX 200 reversed earlier gains to decline 0.18% Australia reported first quarter GDP rose 0.3%, compared with a gain of 0.2% seen quarter-on-quarter and 1.7% annual pace, compared to a 1.5% gain seen.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index however gained 0.15% and the Shanghai Composite eased 0.22%.
Overnight, U.S. stocks closed lower for the second straight day, as investors ditched risk assets, piling into safe havens ahead of key events later this week that could spark turmoil in markets.
In what a quiet day for top tier economic data release, investors focused on key events later this week, shifting sentiment to safe havens, which pressured equities, as all three of the main U.S. indexes ended the day in negative.
Uncertainty over the outcome of the UK election and Comey’s testimony to the Senate later this week, dampened demand for riskier assets as demand grew for safe havens, such as the yen, U.S. treasuries and gold.
Treasury yields dropped to their lowest level since Donald Trump was elected U.S. president, with the U.S. 10-Year falling 1.52% to 2.147, as investors questioned whether the recent bout of weak economic data would deter the Federal Reserve from its view that two additional rate hikes this year are appropriate.
U.S. manufacturing activity in May grew at a slower pace, while data from the U.S. Labor Department last Friday showed that the economy created far fewer jobs than expected.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 21,136.23. The S&P 500 lost 0.28% while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6275.06, down 0.33%.