Tokyo stocks closed lower Wednesday as an overnight rout on Wall Street sparked by a drop in long-term U.S. Treasury yields caused concern about a slowdown in the U.S. economy.

(File photo: VCG)

KEEPING SCORE: 

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.8 percent to 26,765.27 points and the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.7 percent to 2,845.61. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 0.7 percent to 21,887.65 and Seoul's Kospi retreated 0.8 percent to 2,097.18. Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 declined 0.8 percent to 5,668.40 and India's Sensex was 0.6 percent lower at 35,909.10. Benchmarks in Taiwan, New Zealand and Southeast Asia also declined.

WALL STREET: 

The Standard & Poor's 500 slid 3.2 percent to 2,700.06. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 3.1 percent to 25,027.07. The Nasdaq composite lost 3.8 percent to 7,158.43. Tech companies, banks and exporters including Boeing and Caterpillar all declined.

FED WATCH: 

Markets got jolt from remarks by the president of the Fed's New York regional bank. During a briefing with reporters, John Williams said given his outlook for strong economic growth, he expects "further gradual increases in interest rates will best sponsor a sustained economic expansion." That seemed to counter Fed Chairman Jay Powell's remarks last week. The jitters helped drive demand for government bonds. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.91 percent from 2.99 percent late Monday, a large move. The slide in bond yields, which affect interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans, weighed on bank stocks.

ENERGY: 

Benchmark U.S. crude fell 86 cents to $52.39 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 30 cents on Tuesday to close at $53.25. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost $1.08 to $61.00 per barrel in London. It gained 39 cents the previous session to $62.08.

CURRENCY: 

The dollar gained to 112.95 yen from Wednesday's 112.78 yen. The euro declined to $1.1330 from $1.1343.