TOKYO — Asian shares mostly declined Wednesday following a drop on Wall Street, as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that stock prices were “fairly highly valued.”

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.4% in morning trading to 45,300.30. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 1.0% to 8,756.30. South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.1% to 3,448.44. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.6% to 26,305.02, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.2% to 3,829.91.

U.S. stocks took a pause from their relentless rally, with the S&P 500 dipping 0.6%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 88 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite sinking 0.9%.

It’s the first pullback for the indexes after the trio set all-time highs in each of the last three days. Since surging from a bottom in April, the broad U.S. stock market h

See Full Page