Asian stocks were mixed Friday after better-than-expected Japanese growth and weak Chinese data, while oil slipped back ahead of a US-Russia summit on Ukraine.

On Thursday Wall Street finished little changed as strong wholesale inflation data tempered optimism about the US Federal Reserve cutting interest rates.

A quarter-point cut is still expected but a larger half-point rate cut is likely “off the table”, said Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital Management.

Intel surged 7.4 percent following a Bloomberg News report that US President Donald Trump is considering an investment in the beleaguered chip company in exchange for a government stake.

Japan’s economy grew 0.3 percent in the three months to June, while output for the previous period was revised upwards, averting a possible technical

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