A spokesman at the Chinese commerce ministry said China and U.S. trade teams are in close communication, but there is no specific information on the deal to disclose currently.
Chinese officials have so far not publicly confirmed much of Washington's version, especially on the goods purchase commitments.
"The markets have overbought following the recent U.S.-China trade news flow and it's not surprising to see some profit-taking at the end of the year," Liu Jinshu, director of research at Tayrona Financial said.
The Philippine index shed over 1%, hurt by financials and industrials.
SM Investments Corp fell 1.9%, while BDO Unibank Inc dropped 2%.
Indonesian stocks shed 0.6%, with most of the losses concentrated in financials and telecom shares.
The country's central bank kept interest rates unchanged at its final policy meeting for 2019, though it reiterated a commitment to maintain accommodative policy next year to support Southeast Asia's biggest economy.
"We believe that policy easing would be timed during periods of IDR stability and when economic data such as export growth are positive," a note from ING said.
Bank Central Asia and Telekomunikasi Indonesia dropped 2.3% each.
Trade-dependent Thailand's index rose 0.6% and was the top gainer in the region after China unveiled a new list of tariff exemptions for U.S. imports.
Last month, the country had lowered its growth forecast for 2019 as the prolonged trade war and a stronger Baht took a toll on the export-dependent economy.
Utility firm Gulf Energy Development PCL gained 4.1%, while TMB Bank PCL rose 4.5%.
(Reporting by Shreya Mariam Job and Shruti Sonal in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)
