Investing.com - Asian markets traded lower in morning trade on Wednesday amid conflicting reports on the Sino-U.S. trade front.
Overnight, Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter reported that U.S. officials are concerned that China might refuse to accept U.S. demands in the countries’ ongoing trade talks. Meanwhile, Chinese negotiators want to receive more assurances that tariffs imposed on Chinese goods would be lifted once a deal is struck.
The report came after the state-owned Xinhua news agency said last Friday that the two sides have made progress toward striking a trade deal. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He had a telephone conversation with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer last Thursday, the report said, without giving further details.
Meanwhile, a Trump administration official said on Tuesday that Lighthizer and Mnuchin plan to travel to China next week for a new round of trade talks with Liu.
China’s Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component were down 1.0% and 1.6% respectively by 11:25 PM ET (03:25 GMT). Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.5%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was trading near flat at 21,580.50. Sony Corp (T:6758) and Nintendo Co Ltd (T:7974) slumped more than 3% after Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) announced the launch of its video game streaming platform.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s KOSPI was down 1.1%. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930) fell about 1% after the company reiterated a weak 2019 forecast.
“We are expecting many difficulties this year such as slowing growth in major economies and risks over global trade conflicts,” Co-Chief Executive Kim Ki-nam said, adding that softer demand for memory chips from data center companies is also a major concern.
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 slipped 0.1%.
The U.S. Federal Reserve will announce its decision on rates later in the day. It is widely expected to stick to a dovish stance and lower its policymakers' rate projections from December.
The Fed is also expected to revise its plan for a median projection down to just one rate hike this year. The central bank might also announce the end of asset roll-off from its balance sheet, analysts said.