Asia report: Oil makes for a slippery Wednesday

Wednesday brought grim news for most markets in Asia, amid a global slump in energy and banking stocks.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 1.15%, led by Standard Chartered, which slipped 6.28% after the Asia-exposed bank reported its first annual loss since 1989 on worsening bad loans.

Its shares had fallen 6.7% in London on Tuesday.

Crude oil prices also gave up early gains during the Asian session. Brent crude was last down 1.84% to $32.67, and West Texas Intermediate was down 3.01% to $30.94 per barrel.

The slump came after a poor session in New York, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.1% and the S&P 500 was off 1.3%. American banking stocks dropped after JP Morgan revealed plans to hold more money than previously expected, in case energy companies defaulted.

In Japan, the Nikkei Stock Average lost 0.85% as financial shares slumped. Banks on the Tokyo's Topix were down 1.2%, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group losing 1.6%.

The yen was clawing its way towards the greenback as investors rushed to the safe haven yet again. It was last 0.26% stronger at JPY 111.81.

"While [traders are] closely watching oil and stock prices, it seems investors are not taking positions," said Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank research head Ayako Sera, referring to the rush to the yen.

South Korea's Kospi lost 0.09%, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.88%. The yuan fell against the US dollar after Beijing guided renminbi weaker for a second session in a row.

The People's Bank fixed it at CNY 6.5302 per USD, which was the weakest reference point since 5 February, before the Lunar New Year holiday.

Down under, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 2.1% as Australian shares were hit hard by the reversal of the commodities rally, with the country's big four banks taking most of the hit.

The S&P/NZX 50 rose slightly, up 0.9% on domestic earnings reports, with retirement village operator Metlifecare leading the pack.

Australia's dollar slid back against the US, and was last off 0.55% to AUD 1.3961. The Kiwi also slipped by 0.67%, to NZD 1.5155.