Several Asian markets surrendered early gains to end in the red Wednesday, ignoring an overnight advance on Wall Street and remaining cautious about the extent of an expected interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
The Nikkei 225 stock index fell 1.0 percent to close at 13,345.0 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 2.9 percent to 23,653.7.
In Tokyo, shares of chip maker Toshiba Corp., which reported a 25-percent drop in operating profit, lost 2.5 percent. Kyocera Corp., which cut its operating profit estimate the day before, fell 2 percent.
Mizuho Financial Group lost 1.6 percent on reports that its losses on U.S. subprime-linked securities in the current fiscal year could be nearly double earlier forecasts.
Elsewhere:
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.7% to 5,618.70.
New Zealand's NZX 50 index slipped 0.2% to 3,697.01.
South Korea's Kospi sank 3% to 1,589.06.
Taiwan's Weighted index declined 0.4% to 7,543.50.
India's Sensex fell 1.8% to 17,758.86.
Singapore's Straits Times index lost 2.1% to 2,986.28.
The Shanghai Composite dropped 0.9% to 4,417.85 after rising as high as 4,554.34.
with files from other wire services
