In Asia today, the Nikkei closed up 73.73 points at 17,164.04, while the Hang Seng
ended the morning up just 3.41 points at 19,178.58.
New York Mercantile Exchange's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for
delivery in April, was down 4 cents at $61.60 a barrel from $61.64 in late trading in
the US overnight.