Asian stocks flat after US data

Solid US housing data helped to support Asian stocks today (August 20th), having earlier lifted shares on Wall Street.

However, trading has been cautious ahead of the publication of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting, which are due later in the session.

These will be monitored for any indication as to when the ban intends to lift interest rates. A series of mixed data releases have cast doubt on the Fed's outlook for borrowing costs.

Central bank chair Janet Yellen is set to give a speech in Wyoming on Friday, which will also be scrutinised.

Over the course of today's session, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan stagnated. 

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 inched up by 0.03 per cent to 15,454.45 points, paring an earlier loss as the dollar strengthened against the yen in forex trading markets. 

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng added 0.15 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite shed 0.23 per cent.