Japanese markets slumped after the Bank of Japan's September meeting minutes showed board members debated the growing case for a rate hike.

The Nikkei average ended down 2.50 percent at 50,212.27, after having plunged 4.7 percent to 49,073.58 earlier, slipping below the psychologically important 50,000 level for the first time since October 27. The broader Topix index settled 1.26 percent lower at 3,268.29.

Among the prominent decliners, Advantest lost 6 percent, SoftBank Group shares plummeted 10 percent and Hitachi Construction Machinery nosedived 12.2 percent.

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