Share prices were mixed in Asia on Thursday, AP reported. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 jumped 1.2 percent to 22,435.54 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6 percent to 5,981.10. Most other regional benchmarks fell. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was flat at 28,226.37 and the Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.6 percent to 3,273.47. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.7 percent to 2,456.08. Stocks in Southeast Asia were mixed. Benchmark U.S. crude bounced back slightly from heavy losses overnight. It rose 19 cents to $56.15 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday, the contract sank $1.66 to settle at $55.96 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 28 cents to $61.50 per barrel. It lost $1.64 to $61.22 a barrel on Wednesday. The dollar rose to 112.40 Japanese yen from 112.27 yen while the euro strengthened to $1.1802 from $1.1796.
