Investing.com - Shares fell in Asia on Wednesday ahead of minutes from the Federal Reserve expected to set a tone on the rate outlook.
The Nikkei 225 fell 1.48%, while the Shanghai Composite eased 0.24% and the S&P/ASX 200
dropped 0.56%.
In Japan, core machinery orders for December rose 4.2%, below a gain of 4.7% seen month-on-month and year-on-year orders fell 3.6%, more than the drop of 3.1% expected.
Japan's Cabinet Office projects core machinery orders will rise 8.6% on quarter in January-March after rising 4.3% in Q4. It would be the largest increase since 11.2% in the first quarter of 2003.
But it is uncertain whether the recent stock market sell-off and the appreciation of the yen will slow the pace of the gradual pickup in machinery orders.
Earlier, the MI leading index came in flat from a 0.3% drop in January.
The yuan fell against the dollar Wednesday after the People's Bank of China set another weaker fixing at 6.5237 Wednesday compared with 6.5130.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Consumer Services, Industrials and Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.39%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 1.65%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 2.27%.