Asian stock markets rose Wednesday, AP reported. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3% to 2,937.97 and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 0.2% to 20,671.40. Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 1.3% to 25,854.88. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.4% to 1,972.75 while Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 lost 0.5% to 6,543.00. India's Sensex opened down 0.3% at 36,456.33. Markets in New Zealand and Singapore also advanced. Benchmark U.S. crude gained 27 cents to $54.21 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.16 on Tuesday to close at $53.94. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 22 cents to $58.48 per barrel in London. It lost 40 cents the previous session to $58.26. The dollar gained to 106.01 yen from Tuesday's 105.95 yen. The euro held steady at $1.0976.