It is a big week for stocks, and they have...>

STOCKS: It is a big week for stocks, and they have opened the week on the

backfoot. Talks are due to resume between the US and China on trade, although

optimism is not too high for a positive outcome. Over the weekend headlines came

to the fore that the US is pushing the WTO to remove the "developing country"

status from countries including China and South Korea.

- Trade concerns have been dragging on both market and economic sentiment for

some months now and the Fed will be watching developments closely ahead of their

meeting on Wednesday. 25bp is fully priced into markets, so the language of the

statement will be closely watched to gauge future direction.

- It is not just US-China trade concerns that are driving markets, however.

Korean stocks have been the underperformers overnight as concerns about their

WTO status have combined with concerns surrounding Japan-Korea trade.

- The Hang Seng is also among the underperformers this morning following further

protests in Hong Kong over the weekend.

- DM equity futures appear to be less affected than Asian stocks this morning.