SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian share markets were under pressure on Wednesday as weakness in Chinese stocks and the yuan weighed on sentiment in the region, while oil climbed as the United States pressured allies to stop buying Iranian crude.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS lost another 0.3 percent after touching a two-year trough on Tuesday.
Chinese blue chips .CSI300 eased 0.4 percent to be a whisker above 13-month lows as a settlement of Sino-U.S. tensions remained a distant prospect.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 had been faring better but soon succumbed to risk aversion and fell 0.5 percent.
The fragile mood overshadowed gains in energy stocks made after news broke that Washington was pushing allies to halt imports of Iranian crude.
U.S. crude CLc1 added 18 cents to $70.71, having surged 3.6 percent overnight, while Brent LCOc1 climbed 17 cents to $76.48 a barrel.
The jump in oil boosted the Wall Street energy sector 1.4 percent .SPNY, making it the biggest gainer on the S&P 500.
But the S&P .SPX still only managed to add 0.22 percent overall, while the Dow .DJI rose 0.12 percent and the Nasdaq .IXIC was up 0.39 percent.
Confusion remained the watchword with U.S. trade policy.
The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill on Tuesday to tighten foreign investment rules, spurred by bipartisan concerns about Chinese bids to acquire sophisticated U.S. technology.
Yet President Donald Trump also endorsed a measured approach to restricting Chinese investments in U.S. technology companies, saying a strengthened merger security review committee could
