Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Wednesday, AP reported. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index edged higher, while the Shanghai Composite sank 1.6%. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.3% to 22,821.28, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged 0.2% lower to 24,841.00. In South Korea, the Kospi slipped 0.1%, to 2,417.12. The Shanghai Composite index lost 53 points to 3,287.13. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.5% to 6,110.70. Shares fell in India and most of Southeast Asia. The price of gold fell further after breaching $2,000 per ounce earlier last week, giving up $56.20 to $1,890.10. Benchmark U.S. crude oil for September delivery gained 14 cents to $41.75 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell 0.8% to settle at $41.61 per barrel on Tuesday. Brent crude oil for October delivery picked up 20 cents to $44.70 per barrel. Overnight, it lost 1.1% to settle at $44.50 per barrel. In currency dealings, the U.S. dollar bought 106.73 Japanese yen, up from 106.51 yen late Tuesday. The euro weakened to $1.1723 from $1.1744.
