Asian shares were mostly higher on Thursday after stocks eked out small gains on Wall Street following a mixed set of reports on the economy. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.5% on Thursday to 26,668.35 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong edged 0.2% higher, to 26,386.56. In South Korea, the Kospi climbed 1.4% to 2,799.30. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3% to 6,664.80, AP reported. In other trading, U.S. benchmark crude gained 12 cents to $48.24 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained $1.10 to $48.12 on Wednesday. Brent crude, the international standard, added 14 cents to $51.38 per barrel. The dollar slipped to 103.52 Japanese yen from 103.54 yen late Wednesday. The euro rose to $1.2213 from $1.2192.
