Asian shares were mostly higher on Wednesday, ahead of a closely watched speech by the Federal Reserve chief that may give clues about future interest rate hikes, the AP reported. Shares fell in Tokyo and Shanghai but were higher in Sydney, Seoul, Hong Kong and other regional markets. Oil prices rose. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.2% in afternoon trading to 27,968.99 and the Shanghai Composite index fell less than 0.2% to 3,144.06. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4% to 7,284.20. South Korea's Kospi rose 1.6% to 2,472.53. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.6% to 18,316.65. In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude gained 52 cents to $78.72 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 87 cents to $83.90 a barrel. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar inched down to 138.48 Japanese yen from 138.65 yen. The euro cost $1.0350, up from $1.0331.