Market Update
Shares in the Asian region fell Wednesday after equities and commodities declined globally, even as the U.S. dollar bounced back against several currencies from near record lows.
At close, China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 2.2% and 1.4% while India's Sensex and Australia's ASX ended 0.4% and 0.9% lower, respectively. The Japanese market remained shut on a national holiday.
The U.S. dollar's bounce-back signaled risk aversion across equities with recent high-flying commodities like gold and silver declining heavily.
Stocks on the Move
Resource plays were the hardest hit in China: Jiangxi Copper dropped 5.9% while PetroChina fell 2.2%.
In Hong Kong, Henderson Land fell 2.9% while Air China was off 2.6%.
Indian stocks swung towards either sides of trade before closing lower but losses were limited due to broad buying in oil stocks.
State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation surged 4.8% following the government's announcement it would divest some stake in the firm.
In Sydney, selling in heavyweight mining stocks pulled the index lower. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were off 0.8% and 1.5%, respectively.