Shares were mostly higher in Asia in cautious trading Monday after Wall Street dipped once again to the edge of a bear market, the Associated Press reported. Tokyo and Sydney gained Monday while Hong Kong declined. Shanghai was little changed and U.S. futures were 1% higher. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 1% to 27,001.52. South Korea's Kospi climbed 0.3% to 2,647.38. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% higher to 7,148.90. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 1.4% to 20,424.70 while the Shanghai Composite index was nearly unchanged at 3,146.86. In other trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil added $1.02 to $111.30 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 39 cents to $110.28 on Friday. Brent crude, used as the basis for pricing for international trading, advanced $1.10 to $113.65 per barrel. The U.S. dollar slipped to 127.63 Japanese yen from 127.87 yen late Friday. The euro rose to $1.0598 from $1.0564.
