China
Chinese equities continued to drop for a second day in a row Wednesday as investors feared prospects of higher interest rates and inflation control policies would hurt earnings.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index shed 1.92 percent, or 55.68 points, to close at 2,838.86.
The Shenzhen Component Index dropped 2.45 percent, or 299.78 points, to end at 11,917.49.
Combined turnover shrank to 288.4 billion yuan from 398.13 billion yuan the previous trading day.
Hong Kong stocks closed down 478. 56 points, or 2.02 percent, at 23,214.46 on Wednesday.
Turnover totaled 103.05 billion HK dollars compared with Tuesday's 101.88 billion HK dollars (1 U.S. dollar equals to 7.76 HK dollar).
Japan
Japanese stocks recovered from earlier losses to edge up Wednesday on a softer yen against the dollar.
The benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average rose 14.56 points, or 0.15 percent, from Tuesday to 9,811.66.
Australia
The Australian share market closed more than one percent lower on Wednesday, led by sharp declines in the banking and resources sectors.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 76 points, or 1.62 percent, at 4,624.3 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index had fallen 77.7 points, or 1.62 percent, to 4,705.1 points.
Market turnover was 2.57 billion shares worth 5.98 billion AU dollars (5.84 billion U.S. dollars), with 266 stocks up, 891 down and 328 unchanged.
