In Asia today, the Hang Seng finished the morning session up 94.81 points at
24,611.59, while the Nikkei was recently down 96.96 points at 13,766.51.
New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June,
touched $119.93 a barrel in electronic deals and was later trading in Asia at
$119.35, up 83 cents.