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· Asian shares lost out to safe-harbour bonds on Wednesday as Sino-U.S. trade talks produced nothing but white noise, while concerns about a supply glut left oil prices nursing their biggest one-day loss in seven weeks.

The mood in share markets was sombre with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS off 0.7%. Japan's Nikkei .N225 fell 0.8% and Shanghai blue chips .CSI300 0.5%.

· Japanese shares fell on Wednesday on worries over the progress of trade talks between Washington and Beijing, with the information technology sector recording the biggest decline led by falls in semiconductor companies.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened an escalation in the trade war on Tuesday when he said he would raise tariffs on Chinese imports if no deal was reached with Beijing.

The Nikkei index closed down 0.62% at 23,148.57.

· China stocks softened on Wednesday, amid renewed worries that trade talks between the world’s two biggest economies could hit a snag, after Beijing condemned a U.S. Senate measure backing anti-government protesters in the Asian financial hub.

The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 1.0%, to 3,907.86, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.8% to 2,911.05.

In a statement, China’s foreign ministry said the United States should stop interfering in Hong Kong and Chinese affairs and move to stop the latest bills on Hong Kong from becoming law.

· European stocks opened lower Wednesday morning after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to hike tariffs on Chinese goods if Beijing does not agree to a trade deal.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 dropped 0.6% at the start of the trading session, with basic resources and bank stocks each shedding more than 1% as all sectors and major bourses entered negative territory.