Markets in Asia closed mostly lower on Wednesday after a softer lead from Wall Street, with the vote delayed on a bill to replace Obamacare in the U.S.
The Nikkei 225 dropped 94.68 points, or 0.5%, to 20,130.41
The Hang Seng Index weakened 156.49 points, or 0.6%, to 25,683.50
In company news, Toshiba held its annual meeting on Wednesday. Toshiba had promised to sign a deal for the sale of its memory chip unit by the meeting, but said in a statement released earlier in the day that the "negotiation is still continuing." Toshiba had selected a consortium led by the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan as its preferred bidder.
Toshiba shares fell 1.8% to close at 287.6 yen.
Meanwhile, Western Digital and KKR & Co. submitted a fresh offer for Toshiba's memory unit. Media reports quoted the chief of Toshiba's memory chip business as saying Western Digital's offer had anti-monopoly issues. Western Digital jointly operates Toshiba's main chip plant and had sought to block the sale of the latter's chip business.
Takata shares tumbled to close down 68.2% after the Tokyo Stock Exchange removed daily price limits for the company's shares. The company filed for bankruptcy earlier this week.
Several small-cap stocks in Hong Kong extended losses, with some falling more than 90% in the previous session. The broader Hong Kong Exchange Growth Enterprise Market Index, which the stocks traded on, was down by 1.6% by mid-afternoon local time.
A significant number of companies that plunged on Tuesday, including GreaterChina Professional Services and China Jicheng, had appeared in a list of Hong Kong-listed stocks not to own published in May by an activist investor.
The U.S. dollar ceded ground against the yen after hitting a five-week high earlier in the session. The U.S. dollar/yen pairing traded at 112.32 late afternoon Wednesday local time.
Australian markets ploughed ahead, led by gains in its materials, energy and financials sub-indexes.
Stateside, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that the health-care vote would be delayed until after July 4. The controversial new health-care bill could also result in 23 million more uninsured Americans, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
In other markets
The CSI 300 subtracted 28.55 points, or 0.8%, to 3,646.17
In Taiwan, the Taiex index faded 121.51 points, or 1.2%, to 10,390.55
In Korea, the Kospi index settled 9.39 points, or 0.4%, to 2,382.56
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index slipped 3.83 points, or 0.1%, to 3,215.70
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 lost 1.85 points to 7,624.49
In Australia, the ASX 200 charged ahead 41.5 points, or 0.7%, to 5,755.70
