Asia-Pacific stock markets drop ahead of Fed’s Beige Book

Stock markets in Asia-Pacific dropped on Wednesday as investors anticipate the U.S. Federal Reserve to give its summary on current economic conditions, which is also known as the Beige Book.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan ended lower at 27,430.3 and the Topix at 1,915.65. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite pared earlier losses to close slightly higher and the Shenzhen Component went up 0.41 percent. In South Korea, the Kospi fell at 2,376.46 and the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia slid 1.42 percent at 6,729.3.

The Hang Seng index closed 0.93 percent lower in the final hour of trade and the Hang Seng Tech Index edged down 1.29 percent.

The Japanese yen stood at 143.5 against the U.S. dollar, while the Korean won was 1,386.38.