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Bangkok - Asian stock markets were mostly lower on Wednesday after a muted performance on Wall Street while a weaker dollar boosted Japanese shares.
Oil extended losses on profit-taking after rising above $90 a barrel on Tuesday for the first time in over two years.
Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average gained 93.64 points, or 0.9%, to 10 234.74 as the dollar climbed toward the ¥84 line. Investors bought exporters including car and electronics makers.
But most other markets were in the red despite Irish lawmakers approving tax hikes that are part of a slash-and-tax plan imposed as a key condition of the nation's international bailout.
Rejection would have forced snap elections and raised doubts about whether Ireland could tap €67.5bn in bailout loans from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund while also adding to the fears that Europe's debt crisis will soon envelop Portugal and Spain.
South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.3% to 1 957.23 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was off 0.9% at 23 222.07.
The Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.6% to 2 857.74 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.6% to 4 699.90. Markets in India and Taiwan also fell while benchmarks in Singapore and Indonesia gained.
In New York on Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 3 points, to close at 11 359.16. It had been up as many as 89 points before turning lower in the afternoon as enthusiasm over a deal to extend US tax cuts faded.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.6, to 1 223.75. The Nasdaq composite index rose 3.6, to 2 598.49.
In currencies, the dollar rose to ¥83.90 from ¥83.52 late on Tuesday. The euro fell to $1.3218 from $1.3263.
Benchmark crude for January delivery was down 93 cents at $87.76 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract hit $90.76 on Tuesday, the highest price since October 8, 2008 before pulling back to settle at $88.69, down 69 cents.
