Asia stocks dive as china crushes sentiment

Asian markets had a poor start to the trading day on Wednesday, with a weak lead from Wall Street, lackluster Chinese data, and a stronger Japanese yen dampening investor sentiment in the region.

Furthermore, new figures on Wednesday showed weaker-than-expected price pressures in China last month, with the CPI rising 1.6% year-on-year, compared with the forecast rise of 1.8%. Wholesale prices fell 5.9% over the same period as expected, the weakest pace in six years.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index plunged 1.79% to 17,907.68 points within the first hour of trade, while Tokyo's broader Topix gauge tumbled 1.79% to 1,473.77 points.

Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index fell 0.52% to 22,489.17 points shortly after the opening bell, and mainland China's benchmark Shanghai Composite dipped 0.21% to 3,286.34 points at the same time.

Korea's benchmark Kospi index was down 0.45% at 2,008.10 points on Wednesday morning in Seoul.

The benchmark Australian S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.68% to 5,167.50 points in Sydney, with oil stocks crumbling and other miners coming under pressure after commodities fell overnight.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.39% to 5,725.28 points this afternoon in Wellington.