Asian shares fell on Wednesday after a slowdown in China's services activity dented sentiment and as markets turned their focus to the release of Federal Reserve minutes and a key U.S. jobs report later in the week.
Oil prices eased on Wednesday, paring the previous day's gain as fears over a global economic slowdown denting fuel demand outweighed expectations of tighter supply due to output cuts announced by top exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia for August.
The dollar drifted near the middle of its range of the past three weeks against major peers on Wednesday, as traders looked ahead to the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting for clues about the path for monetary policy.
South Korea's consumer inflation slowed more than expected and hit a 21-month low, official data showed on Tuesday, weighed by falling oil and agricultural product prices.
Indonesia's annual inflation rate in June eased to 3.52%, settling into the central bank's target range for a second straight month, data from the statistics bureau showed on Monday.
Malaysia's central bank will leave its key interest rate unchanged at 3.00% on Thursday and keep it there for the rest of the year, marking the end of its modest tightening cycle as inflation has showed signs of cooling, a Reuters poll found.