Asian stocks were mostly higher on Thursday, AP reported. The Shanghai Composite index gained 0.4 percent to 2,592.40 and South Korea's Kospi rose 0.8 percent to 2,145.03. Hong Kong's Hang Seng picked up 0.3 percent to 27,080.39. Australia's S&P ASX 200 added 0.4 percent to 5,865.70. Japan's Nikkei 225 index declined 0.1 percent to 20,574.63. Shares rose in Thailand and Singapore but fell in Malaysia. U.S. crude oil dropped 26 cents to $52.36 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract shed 39 cents to $52.62 per barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, shed 32 cents to $60.82 per barrel. It lost 36 cents to $61.14 in London. The dollar strengthened to 109.68 yen from 109.61 yen late Wednesday. The euro rose to $1.1383 from $1.1381.
