Most Asian markets dropped more than 1% after Wall Street's "fear index" spiked on jitters over the U.S. presidential elections.
The Nikkei 225 Index floundered 307.72 points, or 1.8%, to 17,134.68, likely due to the stronger yen which is seen as a safe haven currency.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong tumbled 336.57 points, or 1.5%, to 22,810.50
Experts proclaimed that markets were toppled by some polls putting Donald Trump ahead of Hillary Clinton for the first time, given Trump's controversial policy platform of re-looking at trade deals and clamping down on immigration.
The yen strengthened against the U.S. dollar, fetching 103.86 a dollar as of mid-afternoon Wednesday, compared to 104 levels seen on Tuesday.
Australian markets were weighed by their energy sub-index, which was down 1.8%, and its financials sub-index, which fell 1.4%
Australia's CSR jumped 8.6% to A$3.89 after it reported half-year revenue was up 8% to A$1.24 billion, and half-year net profit after tax rose 12% to A$103.1 million. The building materials company has risen more than 31% year-to-date.
Shares in Virgin Australia were down 4.2% at A$0.23 per share, after the airline operator reported an underlying loss before tax of A$3.6 million.
The Korean won weakened against the greenback to 1,148.45, a three-and-a-half month low. In October, the KRW/USD had depreciated as much as 3.5%.
Singapore's major banks were mixed, OCBC stock was down 0.5% at S$8.46 per share, United Overseas Bank slipped 1.1% to S$18.50, while DBS traded up 0.1% at S$15.00
A Moody's Investors Service report on Wednesday warned that the three banks could see their profitability come under further pressure, as seen in their latest financial results. The ratings agency assigned a negative outlook to the banks' ratings in March.
Oil majors in the region were all lower, Australia's Santos was down 4.3%, Oil Search fell 1.4% and Woodside Petroleum dropped 1.1%
Japan's Inpex slipped 1.6%, while South Korea's S-Oil was up 1.2%, China's Shanghai Pechem was down 1.5% and Petrochina was down 0.8%
In other markets
The CSI 300 in Shanghai shed 25.7 points, or 0.8%, to 3,333.35
In Korea, the Kospi dipped 28.45 points, or 1.4%, to 1,978.94
The Straits Times Index in Singapore slid 6.55 points, or 0.2%, to 2,807.14
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index faltered 133.66 points, or 1.4%, to 9,139.04
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 plummeted 76.73 points, or 1.1%, to 6,853.75
In Australia, the ASX 200 fell 61.47 points, or 1.2%, to 5,229
