Shares retreated in Asia on Wednesday, AP reported. Japan's Nikkei 225 index lost 0.6% to 23,884.00 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong dropped 0.9% to 28,638.95. The Shanghai Composite index gave up 0.7% to 3,086.32. In South Korea, the Kospi slipped 0.3% to 2,232.63. Shares also fell in Southeast Asia, but the S&P ASX 200 climbed 0.4%, breaching an intra-day record high to 6,992.00. Benchmark crude oil lost 19 cents to $58.04 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 15 cents on Tuesday, to $58.23 per barrel. Brent crude oil, the international standard, gave up 20 cents to $64.29 per barrel. It gained 29 cents on Tuesday to $64.49 a barrel. Gold rebounded, gaining $8.00 to $1,552.60 per ounce. The dollar slipped to 109.89 Japanese yen from 109.97 yen on Tuesday. The euro rose to $1.1133 from $1.1128.
