SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - Stocks traded lower in Asia on Wednesday. Technology stocks were the hardest hit, and the exchange to take the biggest fall was Hong Kong.

"I don't think that we are through the bear market woods yet recession risks loom, and I don't think the Fed is done with its aggressive belt-tightening," David Chao, a global market strategist for Asia Pacific ex-Japan at Invesco told Reuters news agency Wednesday.

"I don't think markets have fully discounted these variables. This week's inflation data will certainly give us more clarity of the Fed's near-term policy outlook," Chao said.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng tumbled 392.60 points or 1.96 percent to 19,610.84..

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dived 180.63 points or 0.65 percent to 27,819.33.

China's Shanghai Composite dropped 17.41 points or 0.54 percent to 3,230.02.

The Australian All Ordinaries declined 39.90 points or 0.55 percent to 7,238.70.

In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 fell 1.39 points or 0.01 percent to 11,752.09.

South Korea's Kospi Composite retreated 22.58 points or 0.90 percent to 2,480.88.

The U.S. dollar was comatose during Asian trading on Wednesday. The euro was traded at 1.0210 around the Sydney close. The British pound was steady at 1/2080. The Japanese yen was little changed at 135.06. The Swiss franc was motionless at 0.9518.

The Canadian dollar consolidated around 1.2881. The Australian dollar did not move from its New York close of 0.6959. The New Zealand dollar was similarly rudderless at 0.6288.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite shed 150.53 points or 1.19 percent to 32,774.41.

The Standard and Poor's 500 was off 17.59 points o r0.42 percent at 4,122.47.

The Dow Jones industrials dropped 58.13 points or 0.18 percent to 32,774.41.