Asian stock markets largely lost ground on Wednesday, as tech shares fell back after overnight declines in peer issues in New York, and as traders weighed bond yields.
Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the red, although Hong Kong eked out a small gain. Other regional exchanges finished lower, led by a 5.8% decline on Seoul's semiconductor-laden KOSPI Index.
Brent crude traded up 1% to $91.97 a barrel during Asian market hours.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower on Wall Street cues and drifted, finishing off 3.2% as traders backed away from rich tech-sector valuations and noted interest rates on bonds.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 2,134.31 to 65,326.42, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 178 to 45.
Yields on 10-year Japanese bonds remained near 2.90% and 30-year highs, but modestly declined after the Bank of Japan engaged in bond-buying operations, reported The Mainichi newspaper.
Leading the upside was online marketplace Mercari, up 6.2%, while Furukawa Electric declined 13.7%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower but inched into positive territory, closing up 0.1% on strength in property issues.
The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 23.92 to 25,495.07 as gaining issues outnumbered losers 55 to 36. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 1.2% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 0.8%.
Leading the upside was Hong Kong & China Gas, gaining 7.4%, while China Unicom declined 12.4%, with both moves following earnings reports.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 2.4% to 3,894.42.
On the other regional exchanges, the Taiwan TWSE declined 1.3%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.2%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.1%, and the Thai Set declined 0.7%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.4%
The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index fell 1% on the day.
