Asia-Pacific markets were mixed after Tuesday’s broad selloff, with traders watching trade data out of Japan and Singapore on Wednesday.
The Nikkei 225 Index dumped 509.40 points, or 1.3%, to 37,961.80, below the 38,000 mark for the first time since February.
The Reuters Tankan index showed that business optimism dipped in Japan for April.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index eked ahead 2.87 points to 16,251.84.
Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports plunged 20.7% in March, marking a huge miss from the 7% decline expected by economists polled by Reuters.
CHINA
Mainland Chinese stocks climbed, in contrast to the wider decline in Asian markets after the country’s securities regulator clarified delisting rules.
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 index regained 54.29 points, or 1.6%, to 3,565.40.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission, in a session with journalists, explained that tighter rules would not spark a wave of delistings.
The rules announced last week pledged to tighten stock listing criteria, crack down on illegal share sales and strengthen the supervision of dividend payouts
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi dipped 25.45 points, or 1%, to 2,584.18.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index recovered 9.93 points, or 0.3%, to 3,154.69.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index popped 311.37 points, or 1.6%, to 20,213.33.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 hiked 70.52 points, or 0.6%, to 11,875.35.
In Australia, the ASX 200 dropped 6.9 points, or 0.1%, to 7,605.59.