Stocks in Asia were mixed on Wednesday amid fresh concerns over the outlook for the global economy.
The Nikkei 225 dropped 115.02 points, or 0.5%, 21,687.57, despite shares of index heavyweights Fast Retailing and Softbank Group seeing gains.
The Japanese yen traded at 111.16 against the U.S. dollar after touching an earlier high of 111.05.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index surrendered 37.93 points, or 0.1%, to 30,119.56, as Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese Construction Bank fell more than 1%.
The International Monetary Fund slashed its global economic growth forecast once again on Tuesday, and said it expects the world economy to grow by 3.3% this year. That’s down from its previous outlook of 3.5%, which was also a downgrade. The IMF added that it expects the economy to expand by 3.6% in 2020, however.
Korean markets showed slight gains as chipmaker SK Hynix saw its stock jump 1%.
Over in Australia, indexes closed just above the flat line. The country’s central bank deputy governor had said in a speech on Wednesday that it was attempting to ascertain the appropriate policy path amid "conflicting signals" from the labour market, Gross Domestic Product data and business surveys.
Following that speech, the Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7146 U.S. after touching an earlier low of $0.7107.
Meanwhile, shares of Crown Resorts fell 9.1% after Wynn Resorts terminated discussions with the Australian gaming firm after the deal talks were leaked.
In other markets
The CSI 300 in China gained 10.42 points, or 0.3%, to 4,084.85
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index eked up 2.05 points, or 0.1%, to 3,327.65
Korea’s Kospi Index added 10.83 points, or 0.5%, to 2,224.39
The Taiex Index in Taiwan advanced 16.54 points, or 0.2%, to 10,868.14
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 fell 60.4 points, or 0.9%, to 9,432.81
In Australia, the ASX 200 poked up 1.73 points to 6,223.54
