Asian shares stayed stuck at seven-month lows on Wednesday, as markets continued to digest a storm in Chinese equity markets, while currency markets were quiet with traders wary of placing large bets before the outcome of a Federal Reserve meeting, Reuters reports.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped by 0.31 percent in morning trading. Markets in Hong Kong and mainland China stabilized after a sharp sell-off in the previous session, balancing declines elsewhere in Asia.
Asian shares have fallen in each of the three previous sessions as regulatory crackdowns in China roiled stocks in the technology, property and education sectors, leaving international investors bruised.
Chinese state-run financial media urged calm first thing on Wednesday morning, and while Chinese shares swung back and forth in early trading, they did not repeat the sharp plunges seen earlier in the week.
Chinese blue chips were last flat, having had a volatile start to the day, and the Hong Kong benchmark gave up early gains to fall by 0.24 percent. Both were still near eight-month lows.
The embattled Hang Seng Tech Index was last flat, also after a volatile morning, a day after touching its lowest level since the index's creation in July 2020. It is still down about 40 percent from its February high.
Japan's Nikkei slid by 1.15 percent to a six-month low, with shares in SoftBank Group, a major investor in Chinese tech, falling by 3.68 percent.
TV camera men wait for the opening of market in front of a large screen showing stock prices at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo, Japan October 2, 2020.
