Shares surged Wednesday in Asia, AP reported. Japan's Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.8% to 20,776.10 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced 0.3% to 26,815.78. The Shanghai Composite index was almost flat at 2,863.04 and Australia's S&P ASX 200 climbed 0.4% to 6,358.50. South Korea's Kospi added 0.1% to 2,071.06. Shares also rose in Southeast Asia. Benchmark U.S. crude shed 54 cents to $52.94 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 0.4% to settle at $53.48 a barrel on Tuesday. Brent crude oil, the international standard, gave up 45 cents to $61.52 per barrel. It closed 1.1% higher at $61.97 per barrel overnight. The dollar slipped to 108.10 Japanese yen from 108.15 yen on Tuesday. The euro strengthened to $1.1261 from $1.1251.
