Asian markets fall, Nikkei 225 down 72 points

SYDNEY, NSW, Australia-Shares across Asia fell on Thursday, with the exception of the Chinese mainland market where modest rises were registered.

The U.S. dollar lost ground against most currencies but moved higher against the commodity bloc.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 72.96 points or 0.27 percent to 26,604. 84.

The Australian All Ordinaries retreated 52.40 points or 0.71 percent to 7,339. 30.

In New Zealand, the S&P NZX 50 fell 70.53 points or 0.63 percent to 11,102. 84.

The Kospi Composite in Seoul, South Korea, fell 4.77 points or 0.18 percent to 2,612. 45.

China's Shanghai Composite, which was against the trend, was strengthened by 11.58 points or 0.37 percent to 3,119. 04.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was down 170 points at the time of writing.

The euro bounced back Thursday in the Asian trading zone. The EU unit was changing hands at 1.0685 around the Sydney close.

The British pound was in demand at 1.2576. The Japanese yen rose to 126.81. The Swiss franc was down to 0.9608.

The Canadian dollar dropped slightly to 1.2821 at the beginning of the day. The Australian dollar was not taken seriously at the end of 0.7085. The New Zealand dollar dropped to 0.6469.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite rose 170.29 points or 1.51 percent to 11,434. 74.

The Dow Jones industrials increased by 191.66 points or 0.60 percent to 32,120. 28.

The Standard and Poor's 500 added 37.25 points or 0.95 percent to 3,978. 73.