Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Wednesday, as crude oil prices dipped and mainland Chinese markets were hit by sell-offs late in the day.

    Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.2 percent to finish at 16,906.54. The Shanghai Composite slipped 2.6 percent to 2,964.89, dipping by over 4 percent before recovering some of those losses.  Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.3 percent to 21,164.78.  South Korea's Kospi fell 0.3 percent to 2,005.83.  Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5 percent to 5,216.00. 

    Meanwhile, Benchmark US crude fell $1.00, or 2.4 percent, to $41.47 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. At one point it fell by 2.8 percent to $41.30 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, slipped $1.02 cents to $43.01 a barrel in London.

    In currency markets, the dollar remained relatively strong, slipping slightly to 108.91 yen from 109.43 yen. The euro rose slightly to $1.1363 from $1.1336.