In Asia today, the Hang Seng ended the morning down 50.83 points at 21,903.84,
while the Nikkei was recently down 136.76 points at 18,103.54.
New York Mercantile Exchange's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for
delivery in August, was down 8 cents at $68.57 per barrel from $68.65 in late
trading in the US overnight.