Global markets were mostly lower Thursday.
Tokyo’s Nikkei index closed 0.3 percent higher, while the S&P/ASX in Sydney had gained 0.8 percent in late afternoon action. Seoul’s KOSPI index was 0.1 percent higher, and Taiwan was up 0.6 percent.
On the negative side, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 0.2 percent lower, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.1 percent and Mumbai’s Sensex was 0.9 percent lower.
European markets are also off to a slow start, with the FTSE in London down 0.2 percent, and both the CAC-40 in Paris and Frankfurt’s DAX index trading 0.5 percent lower.
In oil markets, U.S. crude was trading at $36.50 per barrel, down 2.1 percent, while Brent crude, the international standard, was trading at $39.16 per barrel, down 1.5 percent.
All three U.S. indexes were trending downward in futures trading.