Asian shares rose and the dollar was under pressure on Wednesday after slowing U.S. inflation solidified bets that the Federal Reserve would skip a hike later in the day, but uncertainty remained about further rate increases beyond this week.

The much-watched U.S. CPI report overnight showed prices barely rose in May, with just a 0.1% increase from the prior month. On an annual basis, consumer prices rose 4%, the smallest in more than two years, slowing from April's 4.9%.

That led traders to firm up expectations of a rate pause by the Fed to 91.9% when it concludes a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, but the still-strong underlying price pressures suggest an over 60% probability the central bank could resume hikes in July, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2% in early regional trade, after surging 1.1% in the prior session to the highest in two months.

Source : Reuters