CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks were moving lower on Wednesday as geopolitical tensions persisted and U.S. President Donald Trump's comments suggested that U.S.-China trade negotiations are not going well.
Investors also looked ahead to the Fed decision later in the day and Chairman Jerome Powell's post-meeting press conference for clues on the policy path.
The U.S. dollar held steady while oil prices surged as lingering Iran tensions threatened to choke Middle East supplies. The British pound held near 28-month lows amid rising risks of a no-deal Brexit.
China's Shanghai Composite index was down 0.7 percent at 2,932 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was losing as much as 1.2 percent as Trump dampened trade deal optimism with a Twitter tirade against China.
Trump lashed out at China in a series of posts on Twitter claiming there are 'no signs' that China is following through on plans to purchase U.S. agricultural products and suggested the Chinese are hoping to wait out the U.S. presidential election to get a better deal.
Japan's Nikkei index was down nearly 1 percent as a new round of U.S.-China trade negotiations started in Shanghai with low expectations of a breakthrough.
Nintendo shares tumbled 3.4 percent. The entertainment giant booked a year-on-year drop in operating profit, despite stronger sales of its Switch console. Lender Sumitomo Mitsui Financial fell nearly 1 percent after reporting a fall in Q1 profit.
South Korea's Kospi average was down 1.1 percent at 2,016.67, hitting its lowest level since early January on worries over weak corporate earnings and a simmering trade dispute with Japan.
Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics lost 2.8 percent after its profit slumped by more than half in the second quarter.
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was moving down 0.3 percent, dragged down by banks and construction companies. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index was up 0.4 percent to reach a record high as a2 Milk Company shares extended gains for the third day running.
Overnight, U.S. stocks fell for a second straight session after Trump warned China against waiting out his first term to finalize any trade deal.
Encouraging personal income and spending, consumer confidence and housing data helped to limit the downside to some extent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite eased 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 dropped 0.3 percent.
European markets ended Tuesday's session deep in the red as investors watched the latest in trade developments and weighed rising possibilities of the U.K. leaving the European Union without a deal.
The pan European Stoxx 600 tumbled 1.5 percent. The German DAX lost 2.2 percent, France's CAC 40 index shed 1.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined half a percent.
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