Asian stock markets were mostly lower Thursday as jitters about China's economy and upcoming U.S. jobs data kept buying appetite in check, AP repoted . Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 inched up 0.2 percent to 20,664.44 while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.1 percent to 5,610.10. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.8 percent to 2,013.29. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.6 percent to 24,371.17 and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.6 percent to 3,673.96. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Zealand also fell. Recent surveys showing that Chinese manufacturing is weakening despite government stimulus efforts have reignited concerns about a hard landing for the world's No. 2 economy. Chinese stocks have also been volatile after massive gains in the past year that peaked in early June. Benchmark U.S. crude slipped 25 cents to $44.90 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 59 cents to close at $45.15 a barrel in New York on Wednesday, hitting its lowest price since March. Brent crude, an international benchmark, fell 2 cents to $49.57 in London. The dollar was trading at 124.75 yen, up from 124.44 yen on Wednesday. The euro rose to $1.0912 from $1.0903.
