Most Asian stock markets gained Thursday. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1 percent to 2,659.12 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1 percent to 25,907.26. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 shed 0.2 percent to 21,803.62 and Seoul's Kospi advanced 0.4 percent to 2,077.41. Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 added 3 points to 5,736.00. India's Sensex rose 0.4 percent to 35,286.91. Bangkok and New Zealand retreated while other Southeast Asian markets rose. Benchmark U.S. crude lost 12 cents to $56.13 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 56 cents on Wednesday to close at $56.25. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 1 cent to $66.11 per barrel in London. It gained 65 cents the previous session to $66.12. The dollar weakened to 113.47 yen from Wednesday's 113.63 yen. The euro strengthened to $1.1323 from $1.1309.
