Asian stocks headed lower on Wednesday as falling oil prices continued to hurt energy-related shares and cut into investors’ confidence.
The price of US crude oil – West Texas Intermediate – fell below $37 a barrel on Tuesday, before recovering to $38.24.
A hit to commodity firms, along with a stronger yen led Japan’s Nikkei 225 index to end down 1% at 19,301.07.
Shares failed to be boosted by better-than-expected factory data.
Machinery order data – a leading indicator of investment in the country – showed orders in October had increased by the most since March last year. Orders rose 10.7% from the previous month, well ahead of forecasts for a fall of more than 1%.
In China, investors shrugged off government data that indicated consumer inflation had picked up slightly in November, because it still remained well below the government’s target of 3%.
The consumer price index rose 1.5% from a year ago, compared with a rate of 1.3% in October.
The Shanghai Composite index reversed earlier losses to close up 0.1% at 3,472.44, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.5% to finish at 21,803.76.
In Australia, Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 closed down 0.5% at 5,080.50.
Korea’s benchmark Kospi index ended the day 0.8% lower at 1,948.24. The index has now fallen for six consecutive sessions, its longest losing streak since mid-August.
