US President Trump has admitted that he is personally delaying progress on a trade deal with China.

"It's me right now that's holding up the deal," he said.

"And we're going to either do a great deal with China or we're not going to do a deal at all."

He told reporters outside the White House that Beijing needed to agree to four or five "major points", but did not specify what they were.

Meanwhile, Wall Street ended its six-day winning streak as investors decided to take a breather — with no fresh catalyst to spur the market, but plenty of risks from the US-China trade war still ahead.

The Dow Jones index closed 14 points lower, practically flat, at 26,049.

The broader S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq indices both ended slightly in the red, but largely unchanged.

Market snapshot at 7:45am (AEST): ASX SPI futures +0.2pc at 6,565, ASX 200 (Tuesday's close) +1.6pc at 6,546

ASX SPI futures +0.2pc at 6,565, ASX 200 (Tuesday's close) +1.6pc at 6,546 AUD: 69.61 US cents, 54.69 British pence, 61.44 euro cents, 75.56 Japanese yen, $NZ1.06

AUD: 69.61 US cents, 54.69 British pence, 61.44 euro cents, 75.56 Japanese yen, $NZ1.06 US: Dow Jones -0.1pc at 26,049, S&P 500 flat at 2,886, Nasdaq flat at 7,823

US: Dow Jones -0.1pc at 26,049, S&P 500 flat at 2,886, Nasdaq flat at 7,823 Europe: FTSE 100 +0.3pc at 7,398, DAX +0.9pc at 12,156, CAC +0.5pc at 5,408, Euro Stoxx 50 +0.4pc at 3,401

Europe: FTSE 100 +0.3pc at 7,398, DAX +0.9pc at 12,156, CAC +0.5pc at 5,408, Euro Stoxx 50 +0.4pc at 3,401 Commodities: Brent crude -0.3pc at $US62.10/barrel, spot gold -0.1pc at $US1,326.66/ounce, iron ore +5pc at $US106.61/tonne

The market is betting the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in July and cut two more times this year due to the risk that Mr Trump's hard bargaining on trade with Beijing and others could push the economy back into recession.

Optimism over the United States' decision to hold off import tariffs on Mexico drove Wall Street higher on Monday.

That was despite the US warning it could still impose tariffs in the future if Mexico failed to satisfy its border control demands.

Earlier in the week, the US President said he would raise tariffs on an additional $US300 billion worth of Chinese imports if he could not make progress in trade talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in late June.

Mr Trump has repeatedly said he was getting ready to meet Mr Xi at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, but China has not confirmed it.

ASX pushes higher

Australian shares started their day mainly higher, despite a lacklustre day on US markets.

At 11:05am (AEST), the ASX 200 had lifted 0.5 per cent to 6,577 points.

The Australian dollar, meanwhile, was steady at 69.6 US cents.

Consumer confidence dropped 0.6 per cent to a reading of 100.7 in June, according to the Westpac-Melbourne Institute monthly survey.

"This is a disappointing result given the cut in official interest rates this month and suggests deepening concerns about the economy have outweighed the initial boost from lower rates," said Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan.

ABC/Reuters