Asian markets drift lower after Wall Street slumps

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (HSI) opened down 0.1% and quickly extended its losses to 0.8%.

South Korea's Kospi (KOSPI) and China's Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) each lost 0.3%.

Japan's Nikkei 225 (N225) briefly rose in early trading before erasing gains and dipping 0.1%. Japanese markets were closed Tuesday for a holiday.

The subdued mood from investors followed a down day on Wall Street. All three major US indexes closed lower overnight as a handful of big corporate earnings disappointed. Investors are also looking out for the latest developments on Brexit.

"We are expecting a quiet flat-to-slightly lower day as Asia prefers to take its cues from other markets this week," wrote Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst for Asia Pacific at Oanda, in a research note Wednesday.

The Hong Kong government also announced Tuesday afternoon that it would inject another 2 billion Hong Kong dollars ($255 million) into the economy, which has taken a hit from months of mass protests, China's slowdown and the trade war.

"Over the past few months, local social unrest has not only damaged Hong Kong's image as a safe city and an international financial, commercial, trade and aviation hub, but also hit the local economy hard," the government wrote in a press release announcing the stimulus measures. "Retail, catering, transport and tourism sectors have suffered a heavy blow."

Futures for the Dow (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) continued to drop Wednesday during early Asian trading hours.

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