Asian stocks were mixed Wednesday following Wall Street’s mostly positive performance ahead of key U.S. inflation data that could influence the pace of market-boosting rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

Investors are gearing up for December's crucial consumer price index to determine the direction of Fed policy.

Stock-market investors are turning jittery over something which has apparently happened only two times in the bond market since the early 1980s: The 10-year Treasury yield has jumped by about as much as the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates over the same period of time.