Asian share benchmarks were mixed on Thursday, AP reported. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.5 percent to 22,315.79 and South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.3 percent to 2,481.70 after Samsung reported better than expected earnings. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.7 percent to 30,108.64 and the Shanghai Composite in mainland China lost 0.9 percent to 3,089.21. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.1 percent to 5,218.70. Markets in Southeast Asia were lower. Oil futures extended gains. Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 30 cents to $68.35 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 35 cents to settle at $68.05 a barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 42 cents to $74.42 a barrel in London. The dollar slipped to 109.33 yen from 109.43 yen. The euro rose to $1.2175 from $1.2162.
