In Asia today, the Hang Seng ended the morning down 23.09 points at 17,583.44, while the Nikkei was recently down 152.46 points at 16,089.63.
The New York Mercantile Exchange's main oil contract, light sweet crude for November delivery, was down 31 cents at $58.37 a barrel from $58.68 in late trading in the US overnight.
The DJIA reached a new high close Tuesday, ending the day at 11,727.34 and wiping out the previous record of 11,722.98.