Asian Stocks mostly lower on Wednesday

 Asian markets joined the slump in global equities on Wednesday, as the US dollar strengthened and oil prices lost ground.

    At 12:15 p.m. HK/SIN time, US crude futures were trading flat at $43.60 a barrel, after settling down 2.5 percent overnight, while Brent futures were trading 0.22 percent lower at $44.87, after falling 1.9 percent overnight.

    Helping to weigh oil and other commodities, the US dollar advanced. A stronger greenback pressures commodity prices, which are denominated in dollars. In Sydney, the ASX 200 was down 1.55 percent, weighed by losses in the energy subindex, down 5.11 percent, and the materials subindex, which was lower by 5.91 percent. 

    Chinese mainland markets were higher, with the Shanghai composite up 0.18 percent, while the Shenzhen composite was higher 0.487 percent. Across the Korean strait, the Kospi closed down 0.49 percent, or 9.7 points at 1,976.71. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index shed 0.73 percent. 

    Markets in Japan are shut for three days of national holidays and will re-open on Friday.