Asian stock markets: Australian consumer price index, Nvidia earnings

Asia-Pacific markets opened lower on Wednesday ahead of the release of Australian inflation figures for July.

Minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia's last meeting show that the central bank has considered raising interest rates in an effort to curb inflation.

Australia's weighted consumer price index (CPI) is expected to rise more slowly year-on-year, by 3.4 percent (up from 3.8 percent in June).

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 opened 0.40% lower ahead of the release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Japan's Nikkei225 remained unchanged, while the broad-based Topix fell 0.3%.

South Korea's Kospi and the small-cap Kosdaq lost 0.40 percent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index Futures were at 17,871, below the HSI's last close of 17,874.67. Chinese online retailer JD.com announced a $5 billion share buyback late Tuesday, sending its U.S.-listed shares up 2.24%.

In the US, all three major indices closed higher overnight as investors awaited the earnings report from technology giant Nvidia, due on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.02 percent to reach another record close of 41,250.5 points.

The S&P 500 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2 percent to close at 17,754.82.

—CNBC's Lisa Kailai Han and Brian Evans contributed to this report.