Asian stock markets were flat to lower Thursday, AP reported. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was up 0.1% at 22,048.24 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 4.6 points to 25,945.67. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.7% to 2,935.98. Seoul's Kospi was up 1 point at 2,072.43 while Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 retreated 0.5% to 6,674.80. India's Sensex added 1% to 38,996.36. Singapore and New Zealand retreated. Benchmark U.S. crude lost 15 cents to $56.34 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 80 cents on Wednesday to close at $56.49. Brent crude, used to price international oils, shed 16 cents to $61.27 per barrel in London. The contract declined 69 cents the previous session to $61.43. The dollar declined to 107.65 yen from Wednesday's 107.75 yen. The euro gained to $1.0951 from $1.0944.
