Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower Wednesday, AP reported. Benchmarks in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul declined, while Tokyo gained 0.4%. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.1% to 2,950.42 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 0.8% to 26,565.05. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 0.4% to 22,636.89. Seoul's Kospi declined 0.5% to 2,079.34 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 was flat at 6,673.10. India's Sensex added 0.5% to 39,148.72, while benchmarks in New Zealand and Singapore retreated. Benchmark U.S. crude lost 41 cents to $54.07 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained $1.97 on Tuesday to close at $54.48. Brent crude, used to price international oils, retreated 28 cents to $59.42 per barrel in London. It rose $1.74 the previous session to $59.70. The dollar declined to 108.36 yen from Tuesday's 108.46 yen. The euro retreated to $1.1122 from $1.1127.
