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Hong Kong - Asian stocks dropped on Wednesday, following a sharp fall on Wall Street over fears of a market correction and concerns the conflict in Ukraine could escalate.
Analysts cited comments by Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who said Russia had increased its military presence on the Ukraine border, suggesting the situation could deteriorate.
Hong Kong slipped 0.36%, and Shanghai was 0.64% lower, while Seoul dipped 0.10% and Sydney was down 0.30%. Tokyo fell 1.00% by the break.
"If Poland is indeed right that Russia is about to increase its presence in the east of Ukraine, buyers of all things risk will disappear fast as this is an indefinable outcome for markets," IG strategist Evan Lucas told Dow Jones Newswires.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 139.81 points to 16 429.47.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.97% to 1 920.21, while the Nasdaq Composite Index sank 0.71% to 4 352.84.
The drop follows heavy losses at the end of July, which saw the Dow shed its gains for the year in its worst week since January, and the S&P 500 record its biggest weekly decline since mid-2012.
Mace Blicksilver, director at Marblehead Asset Management, said of Tuesday's fall: "It's continuing the trend from last week."
He added that some pundits have predicted a possible drop of 10% or more in stocks. US stocks have avoided a correction on this scale for more than two years.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei was also affected by a slump in shares in SoftBank - one of the biggest constituents - which fell 3.11% to ¥7 000.
The drop followed reports the Japanese carrier's US unit Sprint is ending its pursuit of rival T-Mobile due to concerns about regulatory approval.
On foreign exchange markets, the dollar was at ¥102.57 in early Tokyo trade on Wednesday, compared with ¥102.62 in New York late on Tuesday.
The euro bought $1.3371 and ¥137.14 against $1.3369 and ¥137.20.
In oil trade, prices moved higher. The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for September delivery rose 29 cents to $97.67 while Brent crude gained 27c to $104.88
Gold fetched $1 289.56 an ounce by 04:30 compared with $1 292.10 late on Tuesday.
