Asian stocks mostly higher ahead of Bernanke comments; Nikkei down 0.58%

Most Asian stocks traded higher Wednesday, rebuffing Tuesday’s slack performance in the U.S., as traders await headlines from congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke later Wednesday. 

In Asian trading Wednesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.58% althoughUSD/JPY traded higher. Japan’s Topix also traded modestly lower as Japanese stocks appeared to succumb to some profit-taking. 

Yen traders are also looking toward this weekend’s upper house elections in Japan in which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party is expected to gain control, thereby ending the country’s hung parliament scenario. 

Some yen bears believe if the LDP controls both houses of parliament, Abe will be able to push through more reforms aimed at boosting domestic consumption. 

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.44% while the Shanghai Composite inched up 0.14%. 

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded slightly higher amid lethargic trade in the world’s 12th-largest economy. However, materials names were among the leaders there as BHP Billiton, the worlds’ largest mining company, said its second-quarter iron ore production rose to a record. That could indicate global commodities demand is beginning to turn for the better. 

New Zealand’s NZSE 50 rose 0.13%. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 0.88% on news foreign investors are wading back into stocks there. Foreign investors bought $128 million more of South Korean stocks than they sold in the first two days of this week, according to Bloomberg. Several global banks have recently sounded bullish tones on South Korean equities due to due compelling valuations. 

Data released earlier Wednesday showed South Korean producer prices fell 1.4% last month, good for the ninth straight month of declines.

Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.17%. S&P 500 futures inched up 0.04% a day after the benchmark U.S. index fell 0.37%.