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HONG KONG — <\/span>Asian shares were mostly higher Wednesday despite losses on Wall Street, as investors await the Federal Reserve\u2019s decision on interest rates, with high expectations of a rate hike<\/a>.<\/p>\n U.S. futures also edged higher. There is widespread expectation that the Fed will hike rates Wednesday for the first time in three years<\/a> as inflation remains elevated in the U.S. and above the Fed\u2019s target.<\/p>\n Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225 gained 0.4% to 63,721.89, despite official data showing that Japan recorded a fourth consecutive month of trade deficit<\/a> in August.<\/p>\n South Korea\u2019s Kospi rose 1.3% to 6,711.62. Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng edged up 0.1% to 24,700.62. The Shanghai Composite index climbed 0.6% to 3,886.48.<\/p>\n Artificial intelligence<\/a> -related stocks remained volatile following U.S. AI leaders\u2019 calls to slow development of the technology to ensure safety.<\/p>\n SoftBank Group, a key investor in OpenAI, dropped 1% after rising 7.5% the day before. Chip equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron rose 1.4%, while Japanese memory maker Kioxia Holdings also lost 2.9%.<\/p>\n South Korea\u2019s memory chipmaker SK Hynix climbed 2.9%. Samsung Electronics was up 1.9%.<\/p>\n Taiwan\u2019s Taiex jumped 1.1%. Taiwan\u2019s leading AI chipmaker TSMC, or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., rose 0.2%. <\/p>\n Australia\u2019s S&P\/ASX 200 added 0.3% to 8,694.20.<\/p>\n India’s Sensex gained 0.4%.<\/p>\n Oil prices stabilized early Wednesday after rising on Tuesday as tensions dragged on<\/a> between the U.S. and Iran, and as Saudi Arabia\u2019s crucial oil pipeline closure<\/a> added pressure on global oil supply. <\/p>\n Brent crude, the international standard, was 0.5% lower at $108.18 a barrel, but still well above the around $72 per barrel level before the start of the war in late February.<\/p>\n Benchmark U.S. crude fell 0.8% to $104.94 a barrel.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Wall Street\u2019s benchmark S&P 500 fell 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.6%, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 0.8%.<\/p>\n AI stocks in the U.S. were steadying. Nvidia climbed 0.6%, while Advanced Micro Devices rose 2.2%.<\/p>\n Higher U.S. Treasury yields have put pressure on the stock market. The yields on government bonds have risen<\/a> as the Iran war-caused energy crisis added to inflationary pressure while the U.S.\u2019s national debt grew<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 10-year Treasury was at 4.98% early Wednesday, after it briefly touched 5.04% this week in its highest level in years.<\/p>\n In other dealings, the U.S. dollar rose to 155.36 Japanese yen from 155.10 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1543, down from $1.1544.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n