Asian shares are higher on Thursday, AP reported. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index added 0.6% to 21,462.86 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong surged 1.2% to 28,545.23. Shanghai was up 2.4% to 2,987.12 while Australia's S&P ASX 200 picked up 0.6% to 6,687.40. India's Sensex advanced 0.4% to 39,277.17. Shares fell in Jakarta but rose slightly in Southeast Asia. Benchmark crude oil jumped $1.56 to $55.54 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 14 cents to $53.97 a barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude oil, the international standard, picked up $1.61 to $63.43 a barrel. The dollar fell to 107.67 Japanese yen from 108.10 yen on Wednesday. The euro rose to $1.1297 from $1.1226.
