Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Thursday, the Associated Press reported. Benchmarks declined across the region, except in Tokyo. The dollar was trading at 133.80 Japanese yen after hitting 134 yen levels earlier in the day, down from 134.20 yen late Wednesday. The euro cost $1.0721, inching up from $1.0718. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.2% in afternoon trading to 28,290.06. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 1.2% to 7,037.10. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.4% to 2,616.46. Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1.0% to 21,788.94, while the Shanghai Composite lost 1.1% to 3,228.08. In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude was up 29 cents to $122.40 a barrel. It gained $2.70 on Wednesday. Brent crude, the international standard for pricing oil, gained 35 cents to $123.93 a barrel. The S&P 500 index fell 1.1% to 4,115.77. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.8% to 32,910.90 and the Nasdaq slipped 0.7% to 12,086.27. Smaller company stocks fell more than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 declined 1.5% to 1,891.01.
