British manufacturing orders declined in July at the weakest rate this year, while expectations for increases in selling prices cooled further, an industry survey showed on Tuesday.

Japan's business-to-business service inflation slowed in June, data showed on Wednesday, suggesting that companies remained slow in passing on rising labour costs despite a tight job market.

China's securities regulator promised to deepen reforms in its capital markets and open them up further in the second half of this year, as part of moves to implement policy support pledged by top leaders of the country.

Asian markets were trading mostly weaker on Wednesday ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's expected interest rate rise to be delivered later in the day, as investors also weighed the likelihood of a Chinese economic stimulus package.

The Bank of Japan should start preparing for future monetary tightening by moving away from its yield control policy, the International Monetary Fund's chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said on Tuesday.

U.S. consumer confidence increased to a two-year high in July amid a persistently tight labor market and receding inflation, bolstering the economy's prospects in the near term.