In Asia today, the Hang Seng ended the morning down 185.31 points at 25,424.9,
while the Nikkei was recently off 118.06 points at 13,984.42.
The record of $123.87 reached by New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet
crude for June delivery, slightly exceeded the old intraday high of $123.80 reached
on Wednesday at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract later traded six cents lower at $123.47 a barrel in Asia from its
record close of $123.53 in New York.