Markets in Australia, Japan, and South Korea closed down after a choppy trading session Wednesday, despite a positive finish in Wall Street overnight.
The Nikkei 225 shed 218.07 points, or 1.4%, to 15,836.36
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index slid 197.51 points, or 1%, to 18,924.57
Japan's economic growth prospects received a slight boost this morning when government data showed core machinery orders, which exclude ships and electric power utilities, for December rose 4.2% on-month and that companies expect orders to accelerate further in January-March quarter.
Exporters finished mostly down with Toyota falling 2.8%, while Sharp bucked the trend to close up 3.3%. The U.S. dollar-yen pair traded down 0.3% at 113.75 in the afternoon.
Overnight, the greenback gained against most G10 currencies with the exception of the yen. A stronger yen is usually a negative for export stocks as it reduces their overseas profit when converted into local currency.
Shares of Takata were down 2.4% Overnight reports said U.S. car maker General Motors was recalling about 200,000 vehicles of its former brands Saab and Saturn because they had potentially defective air bag inflators made by Takata.
Softbank shares extended gains from Tuesday to closing up 5.8% after the internet and telecom giant announced a 500 billion yen share buyback plan.
Energy plays across the board were mostly lower, with Santos shedding 3.5%, Woodside Petroleum falling 6.9% and Inpex down 6.7%
Hong Kong-listed shares of CNOOC Limited, Petrochina, and Sinopec Corp ended lower as much as 4%.
Late afternoon on Wednesday, Moody's Investors Service said in a note it had placed several Chinese national oil companies, and their rated subsidiaries, on review for downgrade
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 index took on 26.29 points, or 0.9%, to 3,063.32
Mainland shares of China Petroleum closed up 1.1%, and Petrochina gained 2.3%
Late afternoon on Wednesday, Moody's Investors Service said in a note it had placed several Chinese national oil companies, and their rated subsidiaries, on review for downgrade
The companies include China National Petroleum Corporation, China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group), China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp), China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC Group), and CNOOC Limited.
In other markets;
In Korea, the Kospi index ditched 4.36 points, or 0.2%, to 1,883.94
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index subtracted 30.79 points, or 1.2%, to 2,613.79
In Taiwan, the Taiex index inched forward 2.18 points to 8,214.25
The NZX 50 in New Zealand moved up 10.2 points, or 0.2%, to 6,085.57.
In Australia, the ASX 200 skidded 27.93 points, or 0.6%, to 4,882.10
