(Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
Markets in most of Asia were trading lower late Wednesday as investors braced for updates from the White House after senators and congressmen conducted an impeachment probe on US President Donald Trump.
Shares in mainland China dropped Wednesday afternoon, with the Shanghai Composite falling 0.6 percent and the Shenzhen Component retreating 1.16 percent. The Shenzhen Composite lost 1.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index likewise shed 0.94 percent.
In Tokyo, the Japanese Nikkei 225 fell 0.43 percent as stocks of index bigwigs Softbank Group and Fanuc plunged 2.6 percent and 2.57 percent, respectively. The Topix Index also lost 0.26 percent.
In Seoul, the South Korean Kospi declined 0.73 percent while the Australian S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.35 percent. The MSCI Asia-Japan composite traded 0.75 percent lower.
US futures looked at the direction of a muted open market for Wall Street shares during Wednesday's pre-market open. The US currency index, which keeps a tab on the dollar versus a host of its counterparts, last ended at 98.503 after falling from around the 98.700 regions.
Trump disclosed late Tuesday that he is not amenable with what he calls as a "bad deal" with China, prior to scheduled talks between the two parties set to be held early next month. This, as the US leader also battled with issues on the political front after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced an impeachment inquiry against him.
In China, Foreign Minister Wang Yi responded to Trump's harsh statements and said the two countries should agree to cooperate to achieve mutual gains that will also benefit other economies.
Beijing and Washington have applied for tariffs involving billions of dollars of products since 2018, which has disrupted the global markets, fanned doubts and clouded economic growth forecasts across continents.
In New Zealand, the country's central bank maintained its cash reserve on standby at 1 percent, after a bigger-than-estimated interest rate reduction last month. In a press release, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced "there remains a scope for further financial stimulus" if need be.
In currencies, the Japanese yen traded at 107.30 versus the US dollar, after advancing from levels above the 107.5 position in previous sessions. The Australian dollar, on the other hand, hit $0.6769 after registering a previous peak of $0.6805 as oil prices slipped during Asian sessions, with the international benchmark Brent crude futures shedding 0.70 percent to $62.64a barrel. The US crude futures also lost 0.57 percent to $56.95 a barrel.
