Asian stock markets fell Wednesday, AP reported. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index fell 1.5% to 23,221.08 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1% to 28,031.54. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.2% to 3,067.82 and South Korea's Kospi retreated 1.1% to 3,068.02. Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 shed 0.1% to 6,817.60 and India's Sensex opened down 0.7% at 40,566.78. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets also retreated. Brent crude was up 73 cents at $69.02. At the start of Wednesday's trading, it spiked $3.48 to $71.75 before retreating. Benchmark U.S. crude was up 61 cents to $63.31 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It earlier jumped $2.95 to $65.65 before settling back. In currency markets, the dollar declined to 108.31 yen from Tuesday's 108.44 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.1151.