By Daniel Inman And Chao Deng 

Chinese stocks fell the most in Asia on Thursday in response to fresh worries over restrictions on lending by local brokerages, while the rest of the region reacted to expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will remain patient in raising interest rates.

The Shanghai Composite was down 0.9% at 3274.64 after China's securities regulator said it would inspect margin trading activities at dozens of companies, according to the state-controlled news agency Xinhua.

Margin trading--the practice of borrowing money to invest in stocks--helped the Shanghai benchmark up 53% last year. The outstanding balance of margin is at just over $1.1 trillion yuan ($177 billion).

Chinese shares sank 7.7% at the beginning of last week when the regulator said it had suspended three of the country's largest brokers from opening new margin-trading accounts for clients for three months. This time around, the regulator told Xinhua that the inspections were a normal event that "should not be over-interpreted."

Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.6%, the Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was down 0.5% and Australia's S&P ASX 200 slipped 0.1%.

At the forefront of considerations was the U.S. Fed's statement Wednesday that it will remain patient in raising interest rates. The U.S. dollar rose against major currencies overnight and was up 0.1% against the yen at Yen117.84 in Asia trade.

Asian investors are weighing the prospect of monetary easing and interest-rate cuts by central banks around the world with tightening by the U.S. Fed. More easing is expected to keep capital flowing into risky assets, including stocks in Asia.

Overnight weakness in oil also weighed on the market.

The Malaysia ringgit fell to a 5 1/2 year low after the country's central bank kept interest rates on hold Wednesday. Malaysia is a net exporter of oil and its stocks have been hardest-hit amid the global oil-price slump.

Write to Daniel Inman at daniel.inman@wsj.com and Chao Deng at Chao.Deng@wsj.com