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Asia markets trade mixed as traders tread water ahead of Yellen speech

Heinz Zak | Barcroft Media | Getty Images

Asia markets opened mixed on Wednesday, despite Wall Street's gains overnight, as traders remained in a wait-and-see mode ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's Friday speech at Jackson Hole.

Japanese shares were higher, as the Nikkei 225 (Nihon Keizai Shinbun: .N225) gained 0.79 percent, while across the Korean Strait, the Kospi (Korea Stock Exchange: .KS11) was down 0.13 percent. In Australia, the ASX 200 (^AXJO) was flat at 5,556.40 in early trade.

Oil prices remained volatile, rising more than 1 percent on Tuesday following a Reuters report that said Iran was sending positive signals that it may support joint action to prop up the oil market.

Iran, which is OPEC 's third-largest producer, has boosted production output since it returned to the international market this year when Western sanctions were lifted.

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But gains in oil prices were later pared when data from the American Petroleum Institute showed that U.S. crude inventories rose by 4.5 million barrels in the previous week, compared with analysts' expectations for a drawdown of 500,000 barrels, Reuters reported.

During Asian hours, oil prices retreated, with U.S. crude futures down 0.79 percent at $47.72 a barrel, after climbing 1.5 percent on Tuesday. Global benchmark Brent slipped 0.64 percent to $49.64, after gaining 1.6 percent overnight.

Energy plays in the region mostly advanced in early trade, with Santos (ASX:STO-AU) shares gaining 0.66 percent, Woodside Petroleum (ASX:WPL-AU) up 0.86 percent and Inpex (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 1605.T-JP) up 1.44 percent. Oil Search (ASX:OSH-AU) shares bucked the trend, inching down 0.14 percent.

In the currency market, the dollar index (New York Board of Trade (Futures): =USD), which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, edged higher to 94.575, compared with levels near 94.398 Tuesday afternoon Asia time.

Analysts pinned the slight uptick in the dollar to better-than-expected U.S. home sales data .

The Japanese yen (:OSEJPY=) traded relatively weaker against the dollar at 100.42 as of 8:19 a.m. HK/SIN, compared with levels as high as 99.97 reached on Tuesday afternoon local time.

Relative weakness in the yen spurred Japanese export stocks higher, with Toyota (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 7203.T-JP) shares gaining 1.77 percent, Nissan (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 7201.T-JP) up 2.54 percent and Sony (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 6758.T-JP) adding 1.91 percent.

In company news, Australian airline carrier Qantas (: ) said its earnings for the 12 months ended June 30, 2016 were the best result in its 95-year history.

Qantas reported an underlying profit before tax of 1.53 billion Australian dollars ($1.17 billion) for the period, up 57 percent on-year. The company said its main divisions - including Qantas Domestic, Qantas International, the Jetstar Group and Qantas Loyalty - reported record results, as Qantas benefited from an ongoing corporate transformation to reshape cost and revenue generation.

The company declared a final dividend of 7 cents per share, which Reuters said was the first final dividend Qantas had announced since 2008. Qantas also said it will carry out a share buyback of up to A$366 million, which would likely help to boost its stock price.

Qantas shares jumped 3.24 percent in early morning trade.

Stateside, the Dow Jones industrial average (Dow Jones Global Indexes: .DJI) added 17.88 points, or 0.1 percent, to 18,547.3. The S&P 500 index (^GSPC) gained 4.26 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,186.9, while the Nasdaq (^IXIC) advanced 15.47 points, or 0.3 percent, to 5,260.08.

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