Asian stocks got off to a weak start on Monday, AP reported. Nikkei 225 finished 1.4 percent lower at 18,985.59 while South Korea's Kospi closed 0.6 percent lower at 2,155.66. Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.7 percent to 24,180.10 while the Shanghai Composite Index was flat at 3,268.96. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1 percent to 5,746.70. Stocks in Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries were lower. U.S. crude oil futures fell 43 cents to $47.54 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 27 cents to settle at $47.97 a barrel in New York on Friday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 44 cents to $50.48 a barrel in London. The dollar weakened to 110.21 yen from 111.34 yen while the euro rose to $1.0861 from $1.0799.