In Asia today, the Hang Seng ended the morning down 47.42 points at 15,561.55, while the Nikkei was recently down 67.41 points at 14,581.
New York's main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, was at $69.50 per barrel, up 16 cents from $69.34 in late trading in the US overnight. The July contract closed yesterday at $68.94.