Japan logged its largest current account deficit ever in January as a combination of global slowdown and China's Lunar New Year holidays undermined the country's ability to earn from trade.

Japan's real wages fell the most in nearly nine years in January, official data showed, as four-decade-high inflation squeezed the purchasing power of consumers and undercut efforts by policymakers to revive a COVID-ravaged economy.

Oil prices steadied on Wednesday as industry data showed an unexpected draw in {{8849|U.S. crcrude oil inventories, after the market tumbled in the previous session on fears that more aggressive U.S. interest rate hikes would hit demand.

China will set up a new financial regulatory body consolidating oversight, which analysts said was aimed at closing loopholes with multiple agencies monitoring different aspects of trillions of dollars' worth of its financial services industry.

The Federal Reserve will likely need to raise interest rates more than expected in response to recent strong data and is prepared to move in larger steps if the "totality" of incoming information suggests tougher measures are needed to control inflation, Fed Chair Jerome Powell told U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday.

Asian shares fell sharply on Wednesday, while the dollar advanced after hawkish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell raised the possibility of the U.S. central bank returning to large rate hikes to tackle sticky inflation.