Shares fell Thursday in Asia, AP reported. Japan's Nikkei 225 index sank 0.7 percent to 22,687.66 and the Kospi in South Korea lost 0.7 percent to 2,151.55. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged 0.1 percent lower to 25,436.62 and the Shanghai Composite index tumbled 2 percent to 2,510.62. Australia's S&P ASX 200 shed 0.1 percent to 5,933.20. Shares fell in Southeast Asia. The price of U.S. crude oil slipped 7 cents to $69.78 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It dropped 3 percent to $69.75 a barrel in New York, its first close below $70 a barrel in a month, after the U.S. government said energy stockpiles jumped last week. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 8 cents to $79.97 per barrel. It fell 1.7 percent to $80.05 a barrel in London. The dollar fell to 112.52 yen from 112.66 yen. The euro fell to $1.1507 from $1.1578.
