In Asian Equity Markets mainland Chinese stocks edged lower in early trade, with the Shanghai composite down 0.28% and Shenzhen component just below the flat-line. The Shenzhen composite was largely flat. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.96%. Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.69% while the Topix index shed 0.51%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia declined 1.21% as the heavily-weighted financial subindex fell more than 1.5%. Shares of Australia’s so-called Big Four banks declined: Commonwealth Bank of Australia fell 1.67%, Westpac declined 2.66%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group shed 1.57% and National Australia Bank fell 1.74%.

In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar and the safe-haven yen found support on Wednesday as a lack of clarity on U.S.-China trade talks kept investors cautious ahead of the release of minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting. Moves were slight as jaded traders again weighed mixed messages on trade, with more upbeat reports offset by U.S. President Donald Trump delivering yet another warning of more tariffs if talks fail. After falling overnight, the greenback rose a little on the Australian dollar to $0.6824 and on the New Zealand dollar to $0.6426. It was marginally higher against the euro at $1.1077.

In Commodities Markets oil prices were steady on Wednesday, after falling the past two days, as a surge in U.S. stockpiles reinforced concerns about lackluster global economic growth amid the trade war between the United States and China, the world’s two biggest oil consumers. WTI crude futures rose 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $55.32 a barrel, after falling 4.3% during the previous two sessions. Brent crude futures were at $60.93 a barrel, up 2 cents, or 0.03%. Brent dropped 3.8% during the prior two sessions. U.S. crude inventories rose 6 million barrels in the week to Nov. 15 to 445.9 million, compared with analysts’ expectations for a increase of 1.5 million barrels, API showed late on Tuesday.

In US Equity Markets the S&P 500 and the Dow fell slightly from record levels on Tuesday as dour forecasts from Home Depot and Kohl’s eroded confidence on the strength of U.S. consumer spending ahead of the all-important holiday shopping season. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.24%, supported by gains in shares of Microsoft Corp, Facebook Inc and Broadcom Inc.Eight of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were lower, with the consumer discretionary index’s 0.79% drop weighing the most. Among other stocks, AT&T Inc fell 4.3% as MoffettNathanson downgraded the U.S. wireless carrier to “sell” from “neutral”.

In Bond Markets U.S. long-dated Treasury yields fell to fresh two-week lows on Tuesday, with risk appetite weaker overall amid persistent uncertainty over U.S.-China trade negotiations. U.S. 10-year and 30-year yields have fallen in five of the last six sessions. Bond investors are cautiously optimistic a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies will get done, but the delay, after what has been a two-year trade war, has kept market participants on the sidelines. U.S. 10-year note yields fell to a two-week low at 1.777%. They were last down at 1.789%, from 1.808% late on Monday.