Asia report: Markets fall as investors clamour for Trump trade details

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.37% at 21,449.39, as the yen strengthened 0.18% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 110.86.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.67% to 2,941.52, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite slipped 0.49% to 1,549.71.

The moves in China were in contrast to jet-propelled gains on Monday, when the Shanghai benchmark surged over 5% and into a bull market.

South Korea’s Kospi was 0.27% lower at 2,226.60, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong slid 0.65% to 28.772.06.

Technology behemoth Samsung Electronics was down 1.27% in Seoul, as buzz around its new flagship Galaxy S10 smartphone - revealed last week - continued to wear off.

Sentiment was sent into the stratosphere on Monday, after US president Donald Trump tweeted over the weekend that he would delay the 1 March deadline imposed by his administration on trade negotiations with China.

The White House had lined up a fresh round of punitive tariffs on Chinese goods, to come into effect if the two economic superpowers could not reach a deal by the beginning of next month.

By Tuesday, however, investors appeared to realise that Trump’s tweets - in a style true to form for his presidency - contained very little detail on his plans to delay that deadline.

Trump did not announce a new deadline date, or reveal any further plans on how the negotiations would be framed going forward.

Analysts were also beginning to exercise caution over just what a trade deal between Washington and Beijing could look like.

“The US could promise to keep tariffs where they are - with no further increases - and review them in a few months [or] years, or they could abolish them completely,” noted BK Asset Management managing director of foreign strategy Kathy Lien.

“There's also a possibility that a deal 'might not happen at all', according to Trump, but he's motivated to get it done.”

Oil prices recovered as the region went to bed, after plunging in the overnight hours, with Brent crude last up 0.75% at $65.25 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate 0.25% higher at $55.62.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 shrank 0.94% to 6,128.40, with the energy subindex down 0.55% after a slide in oil prices overnight.

Of the major energy players on the Sydney bourse, Santos was down 2.55% and Woodside Petroleum fell 0.2%.

Beach Energy was the odd one out, managing to keep its head 0.49% above the waterline.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 was off 0.2% led lower by Tourism Holdings, which closed down 6.7% to its lowest close in 18 months.

The campervan rental group missed expectations in its first-half earnings report, with profit down 23% year-on-year, with the board also slicing the top off its full-year guidance.

Both of the down under dollars were weaker on the greenback, with the Aussie last off 0.29% at AUD 1.3993 and the Kiwi retreating 0.09% to NZD 1.4541.