Asian shares mixed ahead of inflation, earnings reports

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mixed Wednesday following another volatile day on Wall Street, as traders braced for updates on inflation and corporate earnings.

Benchmarks fell in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Taiwan but rose in Shanghai and Sydney. In currency trading, the Japanese yen declined to a 24-year low against the U.S. dollar at 146 yen-levels, raising expectations of another intervention by Tokyo to prop up the yen.

South Korea's Kospi added 0.5% to 2,203.47 after the Bank of Korea raised its key rate by 0.5 percentage points, amid the backdrop of the U.S. Fed rate hikes and growing inflation risks from the weak won and rebounding global oil prices.

In currency trading the Japanese yen declined to a 24-year low against the U.S. dollar at 146 yen-levels, raising expectations of another Japanese intervention to prop up the yen. The dollar was trading at 146.26 Japanese yen, up from 145.80 yen. The euro cost 97.13 cents, inching up from 97.07 yen.

The weaker yen raises costs for both consumers and businesses who rely on imports of food, fuel and other needs, but the bigger purchasing power for foreign currencies is expected to boost tourism. Japan reopened fully to individual tourist travel this week after being closed for more than two years because of the pandemic.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was virtually unchanged, losing 4 points to 26,396.83. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 2.5 points at 6,647.50. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.8% to 16,693.18, while the Shanghai Composite climbed 0.7% to 3,001.83.

“Traders in Asia will also be positioning carefully ahead of the European and U.K. trading sessions,” Anderson Alves at ActivTrades said in a commentary. “It is unlikely that there will be any pushback on the recent hawkish narrative that has been putting...