Asian shares were mostly lower Thursday, AP reported. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 edged less than 0.1 percent lower to 21,771.75 while South Korea's Kospi rose 0.3 percent to 2,493.04. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.2 percent to 31,372.11 and the Shanghai Composite in mainland China fell 0.5 percent to 3,276.52. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.2 percent to 5,920.80. Shares were mixed in Southeast Asia. Oil futures held fairly steady. Benchmark U.S. crude inched up 1 cent to $60.97 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 25 cents to $60.96 a barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, dipped 3 cents to $64.86 per barrel in London. The dollar fell to 105.96 yen from 106.31 yen in late trading Wednesday. The euro strengthened to $1.2373 from $1.2369.
