Asia closed mixed on Wednesday as markets cautiously awaited a trio of potential major risk events on Thursday, including the U.K. election, a European Central bank review and former U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey's testimony to the Senate.
The Nikkei 225 eked higher 4.72 points to 19,984.62
The Hang Seng Index faded 22.98 points, or 0.1%, to 25,974.16
Investors piled into the yen. The U.S. dollar-yen pairing sank to trade at seven-week lows of 109.28 overnight. Dollar/yen last traded at 109.35 yen.
In Australia, real Gross Domestic Product for the first quarter rose 0.3% compared to the previous quarter and 1.7% on year. The annual pace was higher than the 1.5% rise forecast.
The Australian dollar, which was trading around $0.7498 against the greenback before the release of Q1 GDP, rose as high as $0.7532 early in the morning. The Aussie/U.S. dollar pairing last traded at $0.7546.
In the U.K., Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party is expected to prevail on Thursday's election, with a poll this morning showing the party could win a larger majority than earlier projected. Another poll conducted in May reflected the Conservatives could lose their parliamentary majority.
Meanwhile, Comey is set to testify on Thursday U.S. time before the Senate Intelligence Committee over whether U.S. President Donald Trump tried to intervene in a probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
The ECB will also conduct its latest monetary review on Thursday with investors looking for a more upbeat tone on the euro zone economy.
In other markets
The CSI 300 popped 40.99 points, or 1.2%, to 3,492.88
In Taiwan, the Taiex index inched up 3.81 points to 10,209.99
In Korea, the Kospi index returned from holiday to lose 8.48 points, or 0.4%, to 2,360.14
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index subtracted 5.26 points, or 0.2%, to 3,230.49
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 sank 27.07 points, or 0.4%, to 7,467.90
In Australia, the ASX 200 slid 0.3 points to 5,667.17
