Shares advanced in most Asian markets on Wednesday after a rebound on Wall Street that reversed most losses from a sell-off the day before. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 2.8%, to 27,174.43 after reopening from Lunar New Year holidays, while other Chinese markets remained closed. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.7% to 23,379.40 and in South Korea the Kospi picked up 0.5% to 2,188.04. Australia's S&P ASX/200 rose 0.5% to 7,031.50, while the Sensex in India climbed 0.8% to 41,283.40. Shares also rose in Southeast Asia, apart from Kuala Lumpur, which fell 1.4% as trading resumed after the Lunar New Year, AP reported. Benchmark crude oil rose 59 cents to $54.07 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 34 cents to settle at $53.48 a barrel on Tuesday. Brent crude oil, the international standard, gained 65 cents to $59.46 per barrel. Overnight it picked up 23 cents to close at $58.81 a barrel. Gold fell $4.30 to $1,565.50 per ounce, silver was unchanged at $17.46 per ounce and copper fell 2 cents to $2.58 per pound. The dollar slipped to 109.09 Japanese yen from 109.12 yen on Monday. The euro fell to $1.1018 from $1.1025.