Asian shares were mostly lower on Wednesday, AP reported. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.3 percent to 21,717.04 and the Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.8 percent to 2,764.29. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.2 percent to 28,215.16 and the Kospi in South Korea lost 0.2 percent to 2,268.89. Australia's S&P ASX/200 gave up 0.5 percent to 6,181.20. Shares turned higher in Southeast Asia. Benchmark U.S. crude added 31 cents to $74.45 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It added 20 cents to $74.14 a barrel on Tuesday, reaching more than $75 a barrel in early trading. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 26 cents to $78.02 per barrel. The dollar fell to 110.35 yen from 110.59 yen on Tuesday. The euro strengthened to $1.1677 from $1.1657.
