Asian shares fall as China-US tariffs moves loom

Asian stocks fell on Wednesday after US stocks succumbed to a sell-off in the final minutes of trading, snapping a three-day winning streak.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.3 per cent to 21,717.04 and the Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.8 per cent to 2,764.29. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.2 per cent to 28,215.16.

The Kospi in South Korea lost 0.2 per cent to 2,268.89. Australia's S&P ASX/200 gave up 0.5 per cent to 6,181.20. Shares turned higher in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, reports AP.

The S&P 500 index down 0.5 per cent to 2,713.22 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.5 per cent to 24,174.82 and the Nasdaq lost 0.9 per cent to 7,502.67.

Benchmark US crude added 31 cents to $74.45 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

It added 20 cents to $74.14 a barrel on Tuesday, reaching more than $75 a barrel in early trading. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 26 cents to $78.02 per barrel.

The dollar fell to 110.35 yen from 110.59 yen on Tuesday. The euro strengthened to $1.1677 from $1.1657.