Asian stock markets were mixed Wednesday, AP reported. Shanghai and Australia declined while Tokyo and Hong Kong advanced. The Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.3% to 2,982.10 while Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was up 0.2% at 23,305.77. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 13 points at 27,697.19 and South Korea's Kospi gained 0.2% to 2,148.23. Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 lost 0.5% to 6,660.20 and India's Sensex sank 0.3% to 40,113.08. Benchmarks in New Zealand declined while Singapore advanced. Benchmark U.S. crude lost 20 cents to $57.03 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 69 cents on Tuesday to close at $57.23. Brent crude, used to price international oils, declined 24 cents to $62.72 per barrel in London. It gained 83 cents the previous session to close at $62.96. The dollar declined to 109.03 from Tuesday's 109.16. The euro was little-changed at $1.1078.
