Asian shares trade mixed amid investor worries after Wall Street tumble

South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.2% to 2,483.60 (Ahn Young-joon/AP)

Asian shares were trading mixed on Tuesday amid global scepticism about US investments and President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Trading was cautious in Asia, where the benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.2% in afternoon trading to 34,224.33.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was virtually unchanged, inching down less than 0.1% to 7,816.70, while South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.2% to 2,483.60.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added nearly 0.6% to 21,513.91, while the Shanghai Composite added 0.4% to 3,303.32.

China's warning to countries not to resolve US tariffs by striking deals at the expense of Beijing's interests reveals the geo-economic polarisation

Mr Trump’s tariffs and the retaliatory measures from China hang as a shadow over the region.

“Across Asia, there is undoubtedly a sense of urgency to get to the negotiation table even as striking a deal at an appropriate cost can be tough,” said Tan Boon Heng, at Mizuho Bank’s Asia & Oceania Treasury Department.

“China’s warning to countries not to resolve US tariffs by striking deals at the expense of Beijing’s interests reveals the geo-economic polarisation.”

On Wall Street the previous day, the S&P 500 sank 2.4% in another wipeout. That yanked the index that is at the centre of many 401(k) accounts 16% below a record set two months ago.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 971 points, or 2.5%, while losses for Tesla and Nvidia helped drag the Nasdaq composite down 2.6%.

US government bonds and the value of the US dollar also sank as prices retreated across US markets. That is an unusual and worrying move because Treasurys and the dollar have historically strengthened during episodes of nervousness.

This time around though, it is policies directly from Washington that are causing the fear and potentially weakening their reputations as some of the world’s safest investments.

In energy trading, benchmark US crude gained 45 cents to 63.53 US dollars a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 45 cents to 66.71 dollars a barrel.

In currency trading, the US dollar edged down to 140.31 Japanese yen from 140.80 yen. The euro cost 1.1508 dollars, down from 1.1514 dollars.