Asian stocks sank Wednesday, AP reported. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5 percent to 2,737.63 and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 shed 0.3 percent to 22,631.17. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1 percent to 27,683.34 and Seoul's Kospi retreated 1 percent to 2,313.26. Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 declined 0.8 percent to 6,243.70 and benchmarks in New Zealand and Southeast Asia also retreated. Benchmark U.S. crude declined 43 cents to $69.44 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 7 cents on Tuesday to close at $69.87. Brent crude, used to price international oils, shed 23 cents to $77.94 per barrel in London. It gained 2 cents the previous session to $78.17. The dollar gained to 111.53 yen from Tuesday's 111.40 yen. The euro advanced to $1.1605 from $1.1582.
