Overnight

Asian shared were mixed  Wednesday while the dollar slid on weaker productivity numbers and the sterling pound moved up from a one-month low. the Nikkei 225 was up 0.3% later in the day brushing off earlier losses s the yen rallied against the dollar 0.6% putting further pressure on Japanese exporters.

Reuters reported the stronger yen wiped out significant earning at the sever Japanese major auto  makers. Among Japan’s biggest auto makers, Mazda Motor Corp. was down 2.0%, Honda Motor Co. fell 0.9% and Toyota Motor Corp. lost 0.7%. The Hang Seng index gained 0.6%, the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares excluding Japan edged up 0.35% to it highest level in one year. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.3% and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Index fell 0.1%. South Korea's Kospi was up 0.18 percent.

Looking further ahead, the market is expecting a 25-basis-point cut in interest rates from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Thursday, which should stimulate some markets. Elsewhere, the WSJ reported the Bank of England failed to buy as many government bonds as it wanted for its quantitative easing scheme on Tuesday, just two days after rebooting a multi-billion-pound bond-buying effort to stimulate the U.K. economy. Investors refused to sell gilts to the central bank, as they seek a better price for the bonds. 

Reuters noted that oil prices softened Tuesday after advancing nearly 3 percent on Monday amid news of a September meeting among OPEC members. The drop in prices reflected a surprise build-up in U.S. crude stockpiles last week. Reuters reported that preliminary data from the American Petroleum Institute showed U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 2.1 million barrels during the week to August 5, when analysts had expected a 1 million-barrel drawdown. 
U.S. crude futures were trading at $42.74 a barrel in the Asian trading session, while global benchmark Brent was trading at $44.9