Asian stocks fell on Wednesday after an uninspiring overnight performance from Wall Street and a muted response to news that Portugal had agreed a multibillion-dollar bailout deal.

Sydney fell 0.93 percent, or 44.5 points, to 4,740.1 and Seoul ended the day 0.91 percent, or 20.07points, off at2,180.66.

Hong Kong plunged 1.35 percent, or 318.01 points, to close at 23,315.24 while Shanghai shed 2.26 percent, or 66.17 points, to 2,866.02 as investors continued to fret about possible new monetary tightening measures.

Tokyo was closed for a national holiday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Tuesday virtually unchanged at 12,087.51, but the broader S&P 500 index shed 4.60 points (0.34 percent) to 1,356.62, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite fell 20.22 points (0.71 percent) to 2,841.62.

US stock markets were following others down — the dollar, oil, gold and silver all tumbled.

On currency markets in early European trade the euro changed hands at $1.4867 from $1.4823 in New York on Tuesday. Against the

Japanese yen, the European currency bought 120.37 yen from 120.02, and the greenback was flat at 80.98.

Gold continued to drop, closing in Hong Kong at $1,536.00-$1,537.00 an ounce, down from Tuesday’s close of $1,542.50-$1,543.50.

Oil prices fell on slumping US demand, as data predicted a 3.2 million barrel gain in crude inventories, larger than analysts' forecasts.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, shed 35 cents to $ 110.70 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for June delivery turned higher to gain five cents to $122.50.

In other markets:

Singapore closed 1.26 percent, or 39.81 points, lower at 3,113.76.

Bangkok edged up 0.33 percent, or 3.54 points, to 1,073.97. Mumbai closed down 0.35 percent, or 65.33 points, at 18,469.36.

The index has fallen for eight straight days on concerns of slower economic growth.

The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday hiked interest rates by a bigger-than-expected 50 basis points, its ninth move in 15 months.