Asian shares rose on Thursday. The Nikkei 225 stock index in Tokyo climbed 0.4 percent to 19,821.44 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 0.7 percent to 25,598.44. South Korea's Kospi jumped 1 percent to 2,340.23 while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.8 percent to 3,088.15. Australia's S&P ASX 200 rose 0.2 percent to 5,777.50. Shares were higher in Thailand and Singapore. Benchmark U.S. crude jumped 38 cents to $51.74 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 11 cents to settle at $51.36 per barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, climbed 43 cents to $54.39 a barrel in London. The dollar rose to 111.66 yen from 111.50 yen. The euro edged up to $1.1235 from $1.1119.
