Asian shares were mostly lower Wednesday after a lackluster session on Wall Street, AP reported. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 finished at 23,290.86, down less than 0.1%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.7% to 6,116.40. South Korea's Kospi was little changed but inched down less than 0.1% to 2,365.84. Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged 0.1% lower to 25,451.22, while the Shanghai Composite shed 1.5% to 3,324.35. Benchmark U.S. crude slipped 10 cents to $43.25 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose 73 cents to $43.35 per barrel Tuesday. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 3 cents to $45.89 a barrel. The dollar inched up to 106.40 Japanese yen from 106.38 yen on Tuesday. The euro fell to $1.1815 from $1.1837.
