Tokyo, Japan (BBN)-Worries over falling oil prices were weighing on investor sentiment in Asia for a second day on Wednesday.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 tumbled more than 3.5 per cent to 17,106.63 following falls on Wall Street, reports BBC.
In Hong Kong, shares were down by a similar amount in early trade, with the Hang Seng falling 3 per cent to 18,844.90 points.
The mainland’s Shanghai Composite was also in negative territory, down 1.29 per cent at 2,714.63 points.
West Texas Intermediate – the US benchmark – lost 5.5 per cent overnight to fall below the $30 mark, while Brent crude closed down 4.5 per cent to about $32.
Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was weighed down by energy stocks together with the country’s big lenders.
The Sydney index was down 1.8 per cent at 4,953.60, with BHP shares down 4.5 per cent, Rio Tinto shares down 1.2 per cent, and Santos shares down to 6.7 per cent.
The country’s big four banks were down too, with the National Australia Bank shedding the most in morning trade, down more than 5.1 per cent.
The bank announced its final offer price for the float of its UK business – the Clydesdale Bank – at the lower end of the initial price range.
The £1.6bn ($2.3bn) flotation of Clydesdale Bank was postponed on Tuesday for 24 hours.
On Tuesday evening, the bank confirmed the IPO share price at 180p, valuing it at £1.58bn.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index was down 1.1 per cent at 1,885.44.
BBN/SK/AD