Investing.com - Shares in Asia fell narrowly on Friday with no major regional data to drive sentiment in cautious trade as a debate about the timing of a possible Fed interest rate hike this year gathers pace.
The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.14%, while the Nikkei 225 was down 0.07%.
The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.19%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged down 0.57%. The yuan was lower against the dollar Friday even though the People's Bank of China set a stronger fixing at 6.6211, compared with a central parity of 6.6273 on Thursday.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Utilities and Basic Materials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.13%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.22%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.22%.
Investors continued to react to opaque minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) July meeting, which provided few signals on whether the U.S. central bank could raise short-term interest rates before the end of the year. While some participants felt that economic conditions would soon warrant "taking another step in removing policy accommodation," at the two-day meeting on July 26-27, others judged that it would be appropriate to wait for further incoming data on the U.S. price stability as long-term inflation continues to hover below the Fed's targeted goal of 2%. Earlier this week, New York Fed president William Dudley said the timing could be right for additional tightening from the Fed, while leaving a potential September rate hike on the table.