Australia

Australian shares are set to open lower, after major US benchmarks slipped.

ASX futures were down 0.55% or 44 points as of 8:00am on Wednesday, suggesting a lower open.

U.S. stock indexes took a breather, snapping a long winning streak.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite closed down 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.2%.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was down 0.6% to US$77.20 a barrel, while gold was flat at US$2,514.52.

The Australian dollar was at 67.43 US cents, down from its previous close of 67.46.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.9% to 2,866.66, and the Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 1.4% to 1,525.68.

Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 0.3% to 17,511.08.

Japanese shares closed higher. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.8% to 38,062.92.

India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX added 0.5% to 80,802.86.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. slipped. The FTSE 100 Index fell 1.0% to 8,273.32.

In Europe, shares closed lower, with Germany's DAX down 0.3% to 18,357.52, and France's CAC 40 falling 0.2% to 7,485.73.

North America

U.S. stocks ended lower. The DJIA dropped 0.2% to 40,834.97, the S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 5,597.12, and the Nasdaq lost 0.3% to 17,816.94.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Palo Alto Networks Inc, surging 7.18%, Darden Restaurants Inc jumped 3.65%, and PayPal Holdings Inc lifted 3.54%.

The biggest decliners were Insulet Corp which dropped 6.87%, DexCom Inc fell 6.24%, and Valero Energy Corp lost 4.68%.