MUFG Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc

Most markets in Asia fell Wednesday amid a slump in energy and financial shares.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was off 1.5% and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average lost 0.8%. The Shanghai Composite Index and South Korea's Kospi were roughly flat.

In Hong Kong, shares of Standard Chartered PLC slumped 6.2%, after the bank reported its first annual loss since 1989 on increasing bad loans. Its shares in London fell 6.7% Tuesday.

Concerns about falling oil prices and the pace of global economic growth were pushing investors to sell, extending losses from the previous day.

Brent crude oil prices gave up early gains in Asia to trade down 1% at $32.95. Hopes for a supply cut dimmed after Saudi Arabia and Iran dismissed the possibility of reducing or freezing production.

Overnight, U.S. crude oil dropped 4.6% to $31.87 a barrel. The Dow industrials was off 1.1% and the S&P 500 fell 1.3%. Banking stocks slumped after J.P. Morgan said it plans to hold more money than analysts had previously expected in case energy companies default on debt.

On Wednesday, energy and financial shares in Australia were down 2.7% and 1.8% respectively.

Banks on Japan's Topix benchmark were off 1.2%. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. lost 1.6%.

The Japanese yen was up 0.2% at ¥ 111.87 to one U.S. dollar, with its strength hurting the competitiveness of local exporters.

The Chinese yuan fell slightly against the U.S. dollar after authorities guided it weaker for a second session in a row. The central bank fixed the yuan at 6.5302 yuan to one greenback, the weakest level for the yuan since Feb. 5, before China's Lunar New Year holiday.

Jenny Hsu and Carol Chan contributed to this article.

Write to Chao Deng at Chao.Deng@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 23, 2016 22:55 ET (03:55 GMT)

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