Major U.S. stock indices fell on Wednesday with energy companies leading declines amid lower oil prices. Stocks could have ended the session even lower if not the minutes from the Fed's July meeting, which showed that policymakers were not sure whether it's correct to raise rates in September.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 162.61 points, or 0.9%, to 17348.73. The S&P 500 declined 17.31 points, or 0.8%, to 2079.61. The Nasdaq Composite fell 40.30 points, or 0.8%, to 5019.05.

This morning in Asia Hong Kong Hang Seng dropped 1.28%, or 296.92 points, to 22,870.93. China Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.72%, or 27.44 points, to 3,766.66. The Nikkei fell 0.75%, or 152.34 points, to 20,070.29.

Japanese stocks fell following declines in U.S. equities. Concerns over China's economy weighed on stocks too.

Meanwhile Chinese stocks continued falling after they dropped 6.1% on Tuesday. Investors are concerned that the government's actions related to macroeconomic regulation will drive attention away from the stock market.