Asian Stocks Close Mostly Lower Wednesday

Updated from 12:45 a.m. EDT

Asian stocks mostly fell Wednesday, with markets in Japan finishing slightly higher, and stocks in Europe were lower as investors pulled back after a day of record-setting gains and concerns remained over the weakness of the global economy.

The Nikkei 225 stock average rose 1.1%, a day after the index set its biggest one-day gain with a leap of 14.2%. The Bank of Japan said late Tuesday it would offer lenders as many dollars as they want, joining European counterparts in attempting to lower borrowing costs in money markets and freeing up credit worldwide, Bloomberg reports.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell almost 5%, while the S&P/ASX index in Australia fell 0.8%. ...