Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped about 1.6%, as of its final hour of trading, with the index looking set to fall more than 1% for the third straight session.
Casino stocks listed in the city plunged amid fears over tighter regulations as Macao kicked off a public gaming consultation. Shares of Wynn Macau and Sands China both plummeted more than 27% each, while Galaxy Entertainment Group dropped around 18.39%.
Mainland Chinese stocks closed lower, with the Shanghai composite dipping 0.17% to 3,656.22 while the Shenzhen component shed 0.614% to 14,536.31.
Data released Wednesday showed China’s retail sales growing at a much lower pace than expected in August. The retail sales print for the month grew 2.5%, against a 7% growth forecast by analysts polled by Reuters.
Industrial production growth also came in below expectations, rising 5.3% in August against predictions of 5.8% growth.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan declined 0.52% on the day to 30,511.71 while the Topix index slipped 1.06% to 2,096.39. South Korea’s Kospi edged 0.15% higher to close at 3,153.40.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.27% to close at 7,417.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.69%.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 hovered fractionally below the flatline in early trade, with travel and leisure stocks sliding 1.1% to lead losses, while oil and gas stocks added 0.6%.
Stateside, stock futures were flat in early premarket trade after the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 290 points on Tuesday, as investor concerns about the state of the global economic recovery and the next move from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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