Australian shares dropped 1.2 percent on Wednesday, led by another slide in Chinese equity markets, as well as energy and banking stocks, while New Zealand ended flat. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 60.2 points at 4,946.40, but was well off a two-year trough of 4,803.9 touched last week. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index nudged down by just 0.21 points to finish the session at 6141.94.
The downturn in oil drove WorleyParsons down 8.3 percent. Oil Search fell nearly 5 percent after it reported a 10 percent drop in quarterly revenue due to lower oil and gas prices. Origin Energy skidded 4.6 percent, pulling closer to a 11-year trough touched last week. Financial stocks also came under pressure, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ANZ Banking Group and National Australia Bank all down more than 1 percent. Mining stocks edged lower, with BHP Billiton down 0.3 percent, while Rio Tinto shed 1.2 percent, not far from its weakest since 2009. Fortescue Metals skidded 3.2 percent.