Asian shares
turned mixed on Wednesday while the dollar was left adrift as investors
everywhere awaited clarity on the Federal Reserve's future path for U.S.
policy after a likely rate rise later in the day.
Futures for European bourses likewise pointed to marginal early gains with the Eurostoxx 50 STXEc1 up 0.1 percent.
Chinese data showed retail sales and industrial output beat forecasts, but a miss in urban investment reinforced views the world's second-largest economy will start to lose momentum as lending costs rise and the property market cools.
The reaction was tepid, with Shanghai stocks easing 0.7 percent .SSEC. Investors dumped stocks partly-owned by Anbang Insurance Group after the company said its chairman was temporarily unable to fulfil his duties.
Moves elsewhere were cautious with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS up 0.1 percent and Japan's Nikkei .N225 down 0.08 percent.
Wall Street had been in a more confident mood overnight, with major indexes at closing at record peaks. The Dow .DJI rose 0.44 percent, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.45 percent and the Nasdaq .IXIC 0.73 percent.[.N]
The S&P 500 technology sector .SPLRCT rebounded 0.9 percent, following its biggest two-day decline in nearly a year. Big tech names, including Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Facebook (FB.O), led the index higher.
The U.S. central bank is scheduled to release its decision at 1800 GMT on Wednesday with a news conference to follow from Chair Janet Yellen.
Investors fully expect a rate rise largely because Fed officials have told them to, so attention will rather be on the outlook for policy and particularly when the central bank might begin to wind down its massive portfolio of U.S. debt.
Chinese data showed retail sales and industrial output beat forecasts, but a miss in urban investment reinforced views the world's second-largest economy will start to lose momentum as lending costs rise and the property market cools.
The reaction was tepid, with Shanghai stocks easing 0.7 percent .SSEC. Investors dumped stocks partly-owned by Anbang Insurance Group after the company said its chairman was temporarily unable to fulfil his duties.
Moves elsewhere were cautious with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS up 0.1 percent and Japan's Nikkei .N225 down 0.08 percent.
Wall Street had been in a more confident mood overnight, with major indexes at closing at record peaks. The Dow .DJI rose 0.44 percent, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.45 percent and the Nasdaq .IXIC 0.73 percent.[.N]
The S&P 500 technology sector .SPLRCT rebounded 0.9 percent, following its biggest two-day decline in nearly a year. Big tech names, including Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Facebook (FB.O), led the index higher.
The U.S. central bank is scheduled to release its decision at 1800 GMT on Wednesday with a news conference to follow from Chair Janet Yellen.
Investors fully expect a rate rise largely because Fed officials have told them to, so attention will rather be on the outlook for policy and particularly when the central bank might begin to wind down its massive portfolio of U.S. debt.
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