Asian markets mostly lower after Wall St losses

Hong Kong - Asia markets mostly fell Wednesday following a retreat on Wall Street fuelled by profit-taking, with Tokyo hit by a stronger yen and Sydney dipping after data showed Australia's economy grew slower than expected last year.

With few trading cues investors are keeping a watch on the start of China's annual parliament meeting Thursday as well as European Central Bank details on its new bond-purchase scheme.

Tokyo lost 0.59% to 18 703.60, Sydney, which ended at a seven-month high Monday, fell 0.54% to 5 901.6 and Seoul lost 0.15% to 1 998.29.

Hong Kong fell 0.96% to 24 465.38 but Shanghai rose 0.51% to 3 279.53.

"The lack of fresh sparks has prompted investors to take profits and wait for new signals," Matthew Sherwood, Sydney-based head of investment markets research at Perpetual, told Bloomberg News.

Dealers took their lead from New York, where the three main indices - which have been on a six-year bull run - ticked downwards after hitting key levels.

The Dow fell 0.47% and the S&P 500 slipped 0.45%, both a day after hitting new records. The Nasdaq slipped 0.56% after breaking 5 000 points for the first time in 15 years.

Tokyo led Asia's losers as the yen recovered slightly from recent losses against the dollar, with the greenback easing to ¥119.67 from ¥119.74 in New York Tuesday afternoon.

The euro bought $1.1171 and ¥133.68 against $1.1178 and ¥133.85.