In Asia today, the Nikkei ended down 427.69 points at 12,433.44, while the Hang
Seng closed the morning down 715.47 points at 22,707.29.
New York's main oil contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, was at $109.76
per barrel, off 16 cents from its record closing high of $109.92 in US trading hours
Wednesday.