HSI Falls As Trade Talks Jitters Surface Again

Hong Kong stocks retreated on Wednesday, hit by concerns about the China-US trade row and uncertainty over the Federal Reserve's interest rate plans.

The Hang Seng Index eased 0.1 percent, to 28,593.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2 percent, to 2,931, but the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 0.2 percent, to 1,574.

There had been hopes of some sort of progress after presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed at the G20 last month to restart talks.

"President Trump reminded investors just how fragile and uneasy the post-G20 trade war truce" is, said Stephen Innes at Vanguard Markets.

"It seems we are in this never-ending cycle of one step forward and two steps back."

Uncertainty about the Federal Reserve's plans for cutting interest rates also weighed on Asian markets.

Tokyo were all well down, while there were also losses in Singapore, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta with Seoul off 0.9 percent as South Korea's trade stand-off with Japan drags on.

Sydney, Wellington and Mumbai were slightly higher.

On oil markets, both main contracts struggled to recover after tumbling more than three percent on Tuesday as the trade row returned, the dollar rose and tensions between the US and Iran appeared to be easing. (AFP)