Asian Stocks Remain Flat as Investors Await Fed Minutes

Most Asian stocks moved in a flat-to-low range on Wednesday as investors awaited more cues on U.S. interest rates from the minutes of the Federal Reserve's recent meeting.

Cooling optimism over China dented sentiment towards regional markets, while investors were also wary of technology stocks before key earnings from market darling NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA).

Wall Street indexes saw a mildly positive session on Tuesday, providing middling cues to Asian markets as a string of Fed officials cautioned that sticky inflation could keep rates high for longer. But the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite still eked out record highs on gains in tech.

U.S. stock futures were rangebound in Asian trade.

Japanese Stocks Dip After Disappointing Trade Data

Japan's Nikkei 225 and TOPIX indexes were the worst performers in Asia on Wednesday, falling 0.6% and 0.5%, respectively, following disappointing trade data from the country.

Japan's exports grew less than expected in April as demand in key markets, particularly China, remained weak, while imports also disappointed as local demand remained subdued.

This saw the country log a bigger-than-expected trade deficit in the month.

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