Asian markets extend losses after dismal session on Wall St

Shares in Asia fell Wednesday after another afternoon fizzle for stocks that left the Standard & Poor's 500 index with its third straight loss.

KEEPING SCORE: Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index lost 0.9 percent to 22,419.88 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong slumped 1.6 percent to 28,389.35. The Shanghai Composite index skidded 0.7 percent to 3,279.59 while South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.6 percent to 2,494.68. The S&P ASX 200 in Australia fell 0.4 percent to 5,951.10. Shares were mostly lower in Southeast Asia.

WALL STREET: Technology stocks recovered but then lost momentum on Tuesday, as losses for telecom stocks and utilities helped cement the S&P 500's longest losing streak in nearly four months. The S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent to 2,629.57. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.5 percent to 24,180.64, and the Nasdaq composite declined 0.2 percent to 6,762.21. Losers outnumbered winners on the New York Stock Exchange by nearly two to one.

ANALYST'S TAKE: "The sell-off into Tuesday's U.S. session provides weak leads for Asian markets midweek and futures have certainly pointed us in the direction of further pressure for the region," Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary.

CURRENCIES: The dollar slipped to 112.23 Japanese yen from 112.60 yen late Tuesday. The euro rose to $1.1831 from $1.1825, and the British pound fell to $1.3442 from $1.3444.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude gave up 24 cents to $57.38 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose 15 cents to settle at $57.62 per barrel on Tuesday. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 24 cents to $62.62 a barrel in London.

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AP Business Writer Stan Choe in New York contributed.