Investing.com - Asian equities fell in morning trade on Wednesday, with Australian stocks down more than 1.5%. Reports that top white house economic advisor Larry Kudlow confirmed the U.S. is talking with China again on trade issues were in focus.
Kudlow told CNBC in an interview that communications between the two nations are at all levels of two governments, adding that he has spoken to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about it as part of their preparation for the upcoming G-20 summit.
"I think that's very, very, very positive," said Kudlow, although he refused to make a prediction on the outcome of the discussions.
The U.S. is also in “very good” communications with the European Union and with Japan, Kudlow added.
In Asia, China’s Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component were down 0.2% and 0.4% respectively by 10:30 PM ET (03:30 GMT). Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also slipped 0.2%.
Data on Wednesday showed China’s industrial output jumped 5.9% in October, outperforming previous expectations of a 5.7% growth.
Fixed-asset investment growth came in at 5.7% in the January-October period, again beating analysts’ estimates of a 5.5% growth.
Retail sales, on the other hand, rose 8.6% year-on-year in October. Markets expected sales to rise by 9.1%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.3% as government data showed the country’s third-quarter GDP shrank at an annualised rate of 1.2%, comparing with the median estimate of a 1.0% annualised contraction.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s KOSPI slid 0.3%.
Looking ahead, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell will speak later in the day, reports citing analysts said Powell might attempt to calm concerns about the Fed hiking rates too fast.