US-Chinese trade, oil, currencies in the spotlight

Asian stocks fell on Wednesday afternoon due to overnight developments on the trade front between the United States and China.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell by 0.31% at the start of the session, the shares of the heavyweight group and conglomerate Softbank, down 1.89%, while the Topix lost 0.21%.

In South Korea, the Kospi fell by 0.68% as chip maker SK Hynix saw its stock fall by 1.97%. The Australian S & P / ASX 200 declined slightly as traded sectors were heterogeneous.

Overall, the MSCI Asia-ex Japan index fell 0.16%.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Washington and Beijing have a long way to go in trade, adding that the US could impose tariffs on an additional $ 325 billion worth of Chinese goods "if we want to".

Trump's comments come after China and the United States have agreed not to escalate trade tensions in order to restart negotiations, as the two countries have already imposed multibillion-dollar tariffs on their respective products. The long trade war between the two economic powers has raised concerns about its potential impact on economic growth and business confidence.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended its four-day winning streak, losing 23.53 points to 27,335.63. The S & P 500 closed down 0.3% at 3,004.04 and stood out on a five-day winning streak, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.4% to end its day. trading at 8,222.80.

At the same time, US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated on Tuesday his promise "to act appropriately" to maintain economic expansion. His comments come amid expectations that the central bank could cut interest rates at its monetary policy meeting later in July.

However, data released on Tuesday showed that US retail sales increased more than expected in June, indicating high consumer spending, which could help mitigate the negative impact on the economic situation of business investment.

Retail sales rose 0.4% last month, which is above expectations of a 0.1% increase in June by economists from a Reuters poll.

Oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran was ready to negotiate on its missile program. Tensions between the United States and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program have already provided support for oil futures, given the possibility of soaring prices if the situation deteriorated. .

In the morning of Asian trading hours on Wednesday, oil prices have experienced a limited recovery. Futures contracts on Brent rose 0.3% to $ 64.54 per barrel, while US futures were slightly above $ 57.64.

The US dollar index, which compares the greenback to a basket of peers, was 97,360, after rising from levels below 96.9 observed earlier this week.

The Japanese yen traded at 108.25 against the dollar, down from the levels below 108 touchdowns yesterday. The Australian dollar was trading at 0.7016 USD after trading between 0.700 USD and 0.705 USD for most of the week.

– Reuters and Fred Imbert of CNBC contributed to this report.