After a few days of gains, major Asian indices are showing slight declines. This comes as Iran's foreign minister denies that the country has had direct negotiations with the US.
Japan's Nikkei 225 has fallen 0.2 percent at lunchtime, while the broader Topix is down 0.3 percent.
Slightly larger movements are seen in South Korea, where the Kospi is down 2.8 percent, and Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng is down 1.3 percent.
Shanghai and Shenzhen are down 0.6 and 0.4 percent respectively.
