The week so far has seen some of the most volatile days in the history of oil trading, with prices for U.S. crude turning negative, as inventories swelled and finding storage spaces became difficult, prompting investors to digest that demand worries could last for several months.
"The tone from yesterday's sell-off will likely be carried over to today, with expectations for a deep and lasting economic downturn likely to dominate trading," analysts at ING said in a note.
The Philippine benchmark fell as much as 2.3% to its lowest level since April 6, as consumer stocks weighed.
Restaurant chain owner Jollibee Foods shed as much as 3.8% and Robinsons Retail tumbled nearly 3%.
Singapore's Straits Times Index declined 1.5% to hit its lowest in two weeks.
Keppel Corp tumbled as much as nearly 2%, while Genting Singapore hit a two-week low.
Malaysian stocks shed as much as 1.6% to touch its lowest since April 14.
CIMB Group slid as much as 3.6% to a low of over two weeks, while IOI Corp fell 3.4% to its lowest since March 26.
Malaysia's consumer prices in March fell for the first time in more than a year, declining 0.2% from a year earlier amid lower transport costs, government data showed on Wednesday.
Thai stocks shed as much as nearly 1%, with LH Financial hitting a near two-week low and G J Steel falling around 16.7%.
Meanwhile, Indonesia firmed as much as 0.9%. Pelayaran Nelly rose about 34%, while Grand Kartech advanced 24.8%.
The country's finance ministry said on Tuesday nearly 10 trillion rupiah ($644.33 million) was raised from a biweekly Islamic bonds auction, above the indicative target of 7 trillion rupiah.
(Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)
By Nikhil Subba
