Shares fell in Asia on Wednesday, AP reported. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index fell 2.1 percent to close at 19,041.38 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 1.4 percent to 24,242.17. Australia's S&P ASX 200 lost 1.6 percent to 5,684.50. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.5 percent to 2,167.14 and the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.6 percent to 3,241.62. Benchmark U.S. crude lost 34 cents to $47.90 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell 67 cents to $48.24 a barrel on Tuesday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 27 cents to $50.69 a barrel. It closed down 66 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $50.96 a barrel in London. The dollar slipped to 111.44 yen from 111.72 yen. The euro gained to $1.0816 from $1.0810.
