SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - Stocks in Asia plummeted on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar continued to surge.

Fears of higher interest rates kept buyers at bay.

"It is now clear that central banks in advanced economies will make the current tightening cycle the most aggressive in three decades," Jennifer McKeown, head of global economics at Capital Economics told Reuters Wednesday.

"While this may be necessary to tame inflation, it will come at a significant economic cost."

In short, we think the next year will look like a global recession, feel like a global recession, and maybe even quack like one, so that's what we're now calling it," McKeown said.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng tumbled a hefty 609.43 points or 3.41 percent to 17,250.88.

China's Shanghai Composite fell 48.79 points or 1.58 percent to 3,045.07.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dived 397.89 points, or 1.50 percent, to 26,173.98.

South Korea's Kospi Composite tumbled 54.57 points or a hefty 2.45 percent to 2,169.29.

The Australian All Ordinaries sank 36.70 points or 0.55 percent to 6,659.80.

In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 declined 94.92 points or 0.85 percent to 11,119.57.

Talk of a global recession saw commodity currencies nose-dive. The Australian dollar tumbled to 0.6369 by the Sydney close Wednesday. The New Zealand dollar fell to 0.5574. The Canadian dollar was unwanted at 1.3796.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials lost 125.82 points or 0.43 percent to 29,134.00.

The Standard and Poor's 500 fell 7.72 points or 0.21 percent to 3,647.32.

The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite, going against the trend, rose 26.58 points or 0.25 percent to 10,829.50.