SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Asian stocks were flat in early trade on Wednesday after Wall Street ended higher, with the S&P 500 index touching a record high on Tuesday, and as lower-level trade talks between the U.S. and China due this week boost hopes of easing trade tensions.
FILE PHOTO: A man walks in front of a screen showing today's movements of Nikkei share average outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, June 2, 2016. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
But concerns over the broader impact of the legal problems of two close associates of U.S. President Donald Trump pulled S&P futures lower, weighing on investor sentiment.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was flat, while Japan's Nikkei stock index .N225 lost 0.2 percent.
Australian shares fell 0.5 percent after a leadership challenge to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Tuesday.
“With leadership changes and disunity amongst the major parties having marked Australian politics for a decade now, the disruption is likely to be met negatively by business,” ANZ analysts said in a note.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 .SPX rose as high as 2,873.23, topping the previous record of 2,872.87 set on Jan. 26, and is poised to become the longest-running bull market in the index's history on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI closed up 0.25 percent to 25,821.95, the S&P 500 .SPX rose 0.21 percent to 2,862.91, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 0.49 percent to 7,859.17.
But S&P 500 E-mini futures ESc1 were 0.5 percent lower on Wednesday at 2847.75, after a guilty plea from U.S. President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, and the conviction of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
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