Asia-Pacific equities were down Wednesday after an afternoon selloff in the U.S., as a roller-coaster February closes. After big gains in much of the world in January, February began with a long-awaited slide - widely attributed to rising bond yields and inflation anticipation - and though a rebound followed, the month will go down as the worst in at least a year for a number of stock benchmarks.

European stocks fell Tuesday, declining alongside U.S. stocks as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's upbeat assessment of the U.S. economy underscored concerns that the central bank will ramp up its pace of raising borrowing rates. Also in focus Tuesday was the unfolding battle to control British broadcaster Sky PLC, which has landed a roughly $31 billion buyout bid from Comcast Corp.

U.S. stocks on Tuesday ended sharply lower, with the S&P 500 index booking its worst single-session drop since early February after the market's buckled following the first public appearance for Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chairman, replacing Janet Yellen.