Asian stocks continue a mild retreat as the US can't decide what it plans to do

Equities in the Asian session are continuing the week's steady decline as trade concerns continue to eat away at traders' confidence, keeping indexes in the Pacific-Asia session under pressure.

Wall Street looked set to eke out a small gain on Wednesday, but markets turned tail and knocked US equities lower for the day as a lack of clarity on the US' current trade policies keeps investors around the globe on their toes. Asia heads through Thursday's action on the downside, as US President Trump's trade strategy in regards to China continues to go around in circles, with key personnel within the White House administration continuing to deliver conflicting statements on the US' plans with China.

On Wednesday it was reported that Trump has decided to walk back his threats to impose investment restrictions on China by using his oft-used national security measures, temporarily pushing markets into the black for the day, but top US economic advisor Larry Kudlow stated that Trump has no intention of backing down from the current China situation, sending markets back into confusion once more. Souring risk appetite has continued over into Asian equities, and the major bourses are showing losses on the day so far.

Japan's Nikkei 225 is currently down -0.46% on the day, while the Topix Index from Tokyo is also down -0.50%; Hong Kong's Hang Seng is relatively flat on the day, up a scant 0.02%, while the Shanghai Composite 300 is in the red by -0.45%, with the MSCI Asia Pacific broad index down over a full percent for the day so far.

Nikkei 200 levels to watch

Daily candles for Japan's leading Nikkei index are continuing to lean to the downside, touching into June's lows below 22,040.00 before making a mild rebound to 22,200.00. A continued slide will quickly see support from May's low at 21,910.00 while declining resistance is seen at last week's high of 22,830.00 and this week's swing high currently at 22,420.00.