Asian stocks follow Wall Street lower after mixed earnings

Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower Wednesday after major companies reported mixed earnings and an EU leader said he would recommend the trade bloc allow Britain to delay its departure.

Benchmarks in Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong all declined.

US shares retreated, led by a tech sell-off, as investors weighed mixed earnings from McDonald's, Procter & Gamble and other big companies. That blunted investor optimism that had been fed by hopes for progress in settling a damaging US-Chinese tariff war.

The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, said he would recommend the other 27 nations in the trade bloc grant Britain's request for an extension to its Oct. 31 deadline to withdraw.

Britain wants a three-month delay until the end of January 2020. That was done after Parliament passed a law forcing Prime Minister Boris Johnson to seek the postponement.

"Alongside Brexit, the relatively mixed set of earnings out of the US overnight provides poor leads for Asia markets," said Jingyi Pan of IG in a report.

More results from Boeing, Caterpillar and other industrial names due Wednesday "could cap the gains for the S&P 500 index," said Pan.

The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.1 percent to 2,950.73 and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was off 8 points at 22,540.56. Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 0.5 percent to 26,661.36.

Seoul's Kospi declined 0.4 percent to 2,079.84 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 shed 0.2 percent to 6,655.20. Benchmarks in Taiwan, New Zealand and Southeast Asia also retreated.

On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index fell 0.4 percent to 2,995.99. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.2 percent to 26,788.10.

The Nasdaq, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, bore the brunt of the selling, losing 0.7 percent to 8,104.30.

Investors have been shifting their focus to corporate earnings reports as they wait for developments in U.S.-Chinese trade negotiations. Investors were optimistic after President Donald Trump agreed to postpone a planned tariff hike following the latest talks in Washington. That helped the S&P 500 to turn in gains for the past two weeks.