Investing.com - Asian stocks fell in morning trade on Wednesday following a plunge on Wall Street overnight.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.1%, the S&P 500 declined 3.2% while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.8%.
The plunge in U.S. stocks came after top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow backtracked from U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that Beijing had agreed to reduce tariffs on U.S.-made cars.
“It hasn’t been signed and sealed and delivered yet,” Kudlow said on Fox News Tuesday.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite and the SZSE Component fell 0.6% and 0.5% respectively. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index traded 1.6% lower.
Following Saturday’s dinner, the U.S. and China agreed to halt the planned increase in tariffs to 25% from 10% on Chinese imports. However, the remaining details of what was agreed at the dinner were unclear.
China’s Ministry of Commerce released its first official statement on the meeting on Wednesday and said the trade meeting with the U.S. was “very successful”, but did not provide any further details on the outcome of the meeting.
An earlier report by the Washington Post claimed that China was 'puzzled and irritated' by Trump administration's announcement following the meeting.
"You don't do this with the Chinese. You don't triumphantly proclaim all their concessions in public. It's just madness," the Post reported citing people familiar with the matter.
There are "significant differences" between the two countries’ versions of what was agreed upon at the dinner, according to the Post.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.3% after data showed the Markit/Nikkei Japan Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) stood at 52.3 on a seasonally adjusted basis in November, compared to October's six-month high of 52.4.
South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.4%, while Australia’s ASX 200 was down 1.4%.
In other news, suppliers to Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL).’s iPhone underperformed after chipmaker Cirrus Logic Inc (NASDAQ:CRUS) cut its December-quarter revenue outlook due to “recent weaknesses in the smartphone market.” TSMC (TW:2330) fell 3.4%, Pegatron Corp (TW:4938) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (TW:2317) dropped almost 2%.