Stocks in Asia declined on Wednesday, following the fall on Wall Street, as investors remained jittery about North Korea.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index dropped 27.84 points, or 0.1%, to 19,357.97, with financials and automakers ending the session lower.
The Hang Seng Index slumped 127.59 points, or 0.5%, to 27,613.76
In corporate news, the sale of Toshiba's memory chip business returned to the spotlight after Western Digital offered to leave a consortium in talks to buy the unit from Toshiba, Reuters said on Tuesday. Instead, Western Digital would strengthen its position in its existing joint venture with Toshiba. Toshiba shares closed up 4.8%.
Other market movers in the session included stocks affected in the annual review of the Nikkei Stock Average. Japan Post Holdings and Recruit Holdings closed up 1.9% and 7.8% respectively after being added to the index, while Hokuetsu Kishu Paper and Meidensha tumbled 6.1% and 6.8% after being removed
The U.S. dollar fetched 108.56 yen. The dollar had earlier fallen as low as 108.49, close to its lowest levels since mid-April.
Australian markets descended, with the 1.2% fall in the financials sub-index weighing on the broader market. Gold mining and energy stocks made moderate gains.
In economic news, Australia second-quarter Gross Domestic Picture rose 1.8% compared to the previous year, a tad below a poll forecasting a 1.9% increase.
The Australian dollar fell to trade at $0.7998 U.S. from levels around $0.8017 after the release of GDP data. The Aussie dollar fetched $0.7980
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula continued to simmer, with a North Korean diplomat threatening that the country was prepared to deliver "gift packages" to the U.S. if the latter continues to put pressure on Pyongyang. South Korea has said further missile tests could be expected from North Korea following its last nuclear test on Sunday.
President Donald Trump contributed to the elevated geopolitical tensions when he tweeted on Tuesday that he would be letting Japan and South Korea purchase a "substantially increased amount" of military equipment from the U.S.
In other markets
The CSI 300 gained 11.43 points, or 0.3%, to 3,857.05
In Taiwan, the Taiex index gained 47.97 points, or 0.5%, to 10,617.84
In Korea, the Kospi index fell 3.03 points, or 0.1%, to 2,326.62
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index picked up 20.29 points, or 0.6%, to 3,251.26
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dropped 30.82 points, or 0.4%, to 7,777.40
In Australia, the ASX 200 grew 4.23 points, or 0.1%, to 5,706.23
