Asia markets fall as bank stocks retreat under pressure on Wall Street

Asia-Pacific markets fell on Wednesday mirroring moves on Wall Street after a decline in U.S. banks.

Shares of JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo dropped 2%, and Bank of America dropped 3%. The action came after Fitch warned it may have to downgrade credit rating dozens of banks, including JPMorgan Chase.

Last week, Moody’s lowered its rating on 10 U.S. banks while putting other big institutions on a watchlist for potential downgrades.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 1.08% and the Topix was down 0.97%, despite business sentiment improving in July, according to the Reuters Tankan survey.

South Korea’s Kospi came back from a public holiday 1.19% down, while the Kosdaq saw a larger loss of 1.27%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 1.3%, on pace for its third day of losses in four days.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.87%. while mainland Chinese markets were also lower on Wednesday, with the CSI 300 index 0.42% down.

China will release its house prices for July, something that investors will watch given the country’s recent real estate troubles.

Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes lost ground, with the S&P 500 falling 1.16% and ending the session below its 50-day moving average. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.14%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1.02% and snapped a three-day positive streak.

— CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Samantha Subin contributed to this report.