Stocks advanced in Asia on Wednesday after a wobbly day on Wall Street, when the S&P 500 gave back most of its gains from a day earlier. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng rose to 29,792.81. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index added 0.5% to 29,559.10, while the Kospi in Seoul picked up 0.6% to 3,082.99. The Shanghai Composite index advanced 1.8% to 3,569.66. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.8% to 6,818.00 after the government reported the economy grew at a 3.1% quarterly rate, but a minus 1.1% annual rate, in the fourth quarter of last year. The better than expected result was helped by consumer demand and public spending, analysts said. India's Sensex opened 0.8% higher, the Associated Press reported. In other trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 33 cents to $60.08 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 89 cents to $59.75 per barrel on Tuesday. Brent crude, the international standard, added 40 cents to $63.10 per barrel. The dollar rose to 106.88 Japanese yen from 106.68 yen late Tuesday. The euro fell to $1.2083 from $1.2091.