South Korea unemployment, New Zealand CPI

Asia-Pacific markets traded lower Wednesday, following declines on Wall Street, with Japan’s Nikkei leading losses in the region.

Investors will be watching for more stimulus measures to prop up the real estate sector in China with the country’s housing minister set to hold a press briefing on Thursday 10 a.m. local time, according to a statement from the State Council Information Office on Tuesday.

Ni Hong, minister of housing and urban-rural development, is expected to address the press conference along with officials from the central bank, the finance ministry and the National Financial Regulatory Administration.

Ahead of the briefing, China’s CSI 300 Real Estate Index jumped as much as 5.8%, according to data on LSEG. The broader benchmark CSI 300 slipped 0.63% to close at 3,831.59.

Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index rose about 3.8%, while the Hang Seng index was flat, as of its final hour of trade.

Hong Kong’s chief executive John Lee pledged to bolster the government’s focus on people’s livelihoods in his annual policy address, including steps to reduce wait times for public housing.

The city’s leader also vowed to streamline procedures for companies seeking to list in Hong Kong and to attract more international company listings on the city’s stock exchange.

Traders in Asia, meanwhile, assessed economic data from the region. New Zealand reported that its consumer prices index for the third quarter rose 2.2% year on year, in line with economists’ expectations in a Reuters poll. It climbed 0.6% on quarter, slightly lower than the anticipated 0.7%.

South Korea’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate came in at 2.5% in September, compared to 2.4% in August.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.83% to close at 39,180.3, while the broad-based Topix dropped 1.2% to finish at 2,690.66.

The Taiwan Weighted index lost 1.21% to finish at 23,010.98, dragged down by technology sector.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.41% to 8,284.7.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.88% to end at 2,610.36, while the small-cap Kosdaq dropped 1.04% to 765.79.

Overnight in the U.S., stocks tumbled amid corporate earnings season.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 324.80 points, or 0.75%, closing at 42,740.42. The 30-stock average touched a fresh intraday record before sliding. The S&P 500 slipped 0.76% to end at 5,815.26, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.01% to 18,315.59.

The declines came following a strong session on Monday that sent the S&P 500 and Dow to all-time highs.

West Texas Intermediate oil futures climbed up slightly on Wednesday, after dropping more than 4% overnight, following the report that Israel had told the U.S. that it does not plan to target its strike at Iran’s oil facilities.

— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Yun Li contributed to this report.