European shares were mostly higher in early trading Thursday after a drop in Asia, AP reported. France's CAC 40 added 0.4% in early trading to 5,242.66, while Germany's DAX rose nearly 0.6% to 11,902.87. Britain's FTSE 100 edged up 0.2% to 7,201.12. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up 0.3% at 25,187. S&P 500 futures were also higher, adding 0.4% to 2,791.40. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 0.3% to finish at 20,942.53. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.7% to 6,392.10. South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.8% to 2,038.80. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.3% at 27,149.04, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.3% to 2,905.81. Benchmark U.S. crude added 77 cents to $59.58. It fell 0.6% to settle at $58.81 a barrel Wednesday. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 32 cents to $68.19 per barrel. The dollar rose to 109.74 Japanese yen from 109.31 yen on Wednesday. The euro weakened to $1.1134 from $1.1154.
