Asian stocks mixed as US-China trade in focus, Chinese equities in retreat

Asian equities are falling back on headlines that the US' White House administration is seeking to bump planned tariffs on China to a higher rate, sending broader markets back on concerns over trade wars.

US President Donald Trump and his treasury department are seeking to lift tariffs targeting $200 billion in Chinese goods from 10% to 25%, a move that would significantly ramp-up trade war fallout in both the US and Chinese economies.

Japan's leading Nikkei 225 index is flat for the day, sitting at -0.03% while the Tokyo Topix index is similarly steady at 0.16% for Thursday, while Australia's ASX 200 sits at -0.07% and MSCI's broad Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan is in the green by 0.23%. Chinese stock indexes are falling once again on trade headlines, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index down -0.85% for today and Shanghai's CSI 300 in the red by a full 2%.

Shanghai Composite levels to watch

Shanghai's Composite 300 index is approaching the 2,800.00 level in free-fall as trade headlines rip the bourse off of a recent swing high into 2,920.00. Trade angst amongst Asian session traders continue to punish the major mainland China index, which fell into a 2018 low of 2,690.00 in early July. A bullish recovery has been slow to develop, and bullish traders will be hoping for the current slide lower to find a floor above the last swing low at 2,750.00.