Asian stocks mixed ahead of Britain's referendum

TOKYO (AP) - Asian shares were mixed Thursday ahead of a vote on whether Britain will opt to remain in the European Union.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.4 percent to 16,122.53 in early trading. Hong Kong's Hang Seng inched up 0.1 percent to 20,819.97, The Shanghai Composite edged down 0.3 percent to 2,896.12. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.4 percent to 1,985.38. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1 percent to 5,278.40.

BRITAIN VOTE: Investors are watching for the outcome of the referendum on Britain's membership in the European Union. An exit may send global shares tumbling, analysts say.

WALL STREET: The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 48.90 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,780.83. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.45 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,085.45. The Nasdaq composite edged down 10.44 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,833.32.

THE QUOTE: "Is Brexit really important? To Britain itself, sure," a report from DBS Bank in Hong Kong said. "To the rest of the world, not so much. From a real economy perspective, Britain could fall off the map tomorrow, and Asia's growth would replace it - and add three more - over the next 8.5 years. No one likes to see self-harm, but the fact is Britain hasn't played a smaller role in the global economy for 400 years."

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude added 49 cents to $49.62 a barrel. It lost 72 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $49.13 a barrel in New York on Wednesday. Brent crude, the benchmark for international oil prices, rose 46 cents to $50.34 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 104.62 yen from 104.45 yen. The euro rose to $1.1341, up from $1.1271.

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Associated Press Writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in Washington and AP Markets Writer Marley Jay in New York contributed to this report.

Marley can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP

His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/marley-jay

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/yuri-kageyama