Stocks tread water ahead of signing of initial US-China trade deal

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on late Tuesday that the United States would keep in place tariffs on Chinese goods until the completion of a second phase of a U.S.-China trade agreement.

TOKYO: Stocks were steady in early Asian trade on Wednesday as investors awaited the signing of an initial U.S.-China trade deal, with sentiment somewhat dented by comments from the U.S. Treasury Secretary's that tariffs would remain in place for now.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.13%, Japan's benchmark Nikkei and South Korea's Kospi shed 0.29% and 0.48%, respectively, while Australian stocks added 0.33%.