Trade between the United States and China, currencies in the foreground

Asian-Pacific stocks fell on Monday morning in a context of uncertainty on the trade front between the United States and China, after the rise in tariffs on Chinese products last Friday.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.9% at the start of the session, with the shares of the heavyweight group of the Softbank group losing more than 3%. The Topix index also fell 0.69%.

In South Korea, the Kospi fell 0.77%, while the ASX 200 of Australia also lost 0.48%.

Hong Kong markets are closed on Mondays for holidays. Meanwhile, futures have shown significant declines on Wall Street when they open later Monday in the United States. Starting at 8:01 pm ET Sunday, the futures contracts implied an initial drop of more than 200 points for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Last Friday, shares in mainland China soared despite rising US tariffs from 10% to 25% on Chinese goods worth $ 200 billion.

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet at the upcoming G-20 summit in Japan in December. June.

Mr. Kudlow said the odds of such a meeting "were pretty good," but he added that there was "no concrete and precise plan" for when US negotiators and Chinese will meet again.

Trade negotiations between US and Chinese negotiators broke off Friday without a trade deal. Talks took place in the wake of Trump's threat of more than doubling the tariff rate to 25% on $ 200 billion worth of Chinese products.

"It remains to be seen how the markets will react this week once they are active again, but the news on the tariff front is anything but reassuring," said David de Garis, director and chief economist at National Australia Bank, wrote in a morning note.

The US dollar index, which compares the greenback to a basket of peers, stood at 97.290 after peaking above 97.6 last week.

The Japanese yen, widely regarded as a safe haven currency, traded at 109.60 against a dollar after being strengthened against levels above 110.4 during the previous trading week. The Australian dollar fell to $ 0.6981, after peaking at $ 0.702 last week.

Oil prices fell in the morning hours of Asian trading, as the Brent benchmark futures contract, the international benchmark, fell 0.44% to $ 70.31 per barrel and United States, from 0.71% to 61.22 dollars per barrel.