Asian shares fell Wednesday following a slide on Wall Street amid growing tensions between the US and the European Union and a dim forecast on global economic growth.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped nearly 0.8 per cent in morning trading to 21,635.16. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped nearly 0.1 per cent to 6,217.30.
South Korea's Kospi lost 0.2 per cent at 2,209.21. Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.8 per cent to 29,925.15, while the Shanghai Composite was down nearly 0.9 per cent at 3,211.36, reports AP.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 index fell 17.57 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 2,878.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 190.44 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 26,150.58.
The Nasdaq composite slid 44.61 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 7,909.28. The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks gave up 19.32 points, or 1.2 per cent, or 1,559.68.
European indexes also finished broadly lower, giving up early gains, after the US threatened to impose $11.2 billion in tariffs on European products, including cheese, wine and helicopters.
Benchmark US crude rose 11 cents to $64.09. It fell 0.7 per cent to settle at $63.98 a barrel Tuesday. Brent crude added 4 cents to $70.65 a barrel.
The dollar fell to 111.14 yen from 111.28 yen Tuesday. The euro inched down to $1.1257 from $1.1277.