Asian shares fell Wednesday on growing fears the virus' spread may be unstoppable, hurting global growth considerably. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 declined 0.8% to finish at 22,426.19, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dipped 2.3% to 6,708.10. South Korea's Kospi lost 1.0% to 2,076.77. Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.8% to 26,674.67. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.8% to 2,987.93. Shares fell in most of Southeast Asia but rose in Malaysia following recent losses due to political turmoil, AP reported. Benchmark crude oil shed 64 cents to $49.86 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell $1.53 to $49.90 a barrel Tuesday. Brent crude oil, the international standard, shed 16 cents to $54.10 a barrel. The dollar rose to 110.40 Japanese yen from 110.19 yen on Tuesday. The euro slid to $1.0872 from $1.0882.
