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Emerging-market assets fell with European equities and the dollar strengthened as expectations for a U.S. interest-rate hike grew ahead of a speech this week by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. Oil slumped after data showed a jump in U.S. stockpiles.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was down 0.4 percent as of 8:17 a.m. London time. Glencore Plc fell 2 percent after the commodities trader reported a 66 percent drop in first-half profit.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index dropped 1.2 percent, led by losses in property companies and banks. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell as much as 1.3 percent before PetroChina Co. and Cnooc Ltd. report earnings on Wednesday.

Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Wednesday with a pause in the yen's rise lifting cyclical stocks, although caution before Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's appearance at a central bankers' meeting later in the week limited the gains.

The Nikkei closed 0.6 percent higher at 16,597.30.

Hong Kong stocks posted their biggest one-day decline in three weeks on Wednesday, as Asian markets fell on profit-taking after strong U.S. housing data overnight was seen as increasing the chances of an interest rate hike in coming months.

The Hang Seng index fell 0.8 percent, to 22,820.78, while the China Enterprises Index also lost 0.8 percent, to 9,507.09 points.

China stocks slipped on Wednesday, pulled down by financial shares amid receding expectations of aggressive monetary easing, while property shares also declined.

The CSI300 index, which tracks the largest listed companies trading in Shanghai and Shenzhen, fell 0.4 percent, to 3,329.86 points. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.1 percent, to 3,085.88 points.

China's central bank on Wednesday injected cash into money markets through 14-day reverse repurchase agreements for the first time since February, and traders said the prospect of more liquidity injections trimmed expectations of further aggressive monetary easing.