HONG KONG — Asian stocks were mixed in lacklustre trade Thursday, while oil prices extended losses ahead of a pivotal Opec meeting expected to maintain the cartel's production levels despite a huge glut.
Tokyo stocks lost 0.78% as a stronger yen took the wind out of the market ahead of the US Thanksgiving holiday, which will see US markets closed Thursday and open for shortened trade on Friday.
Hong Kong was down 0.48% in afternoon trade, while Shanghai was up 0.51%.
Sydney edged up 0.09% to close at 5,400.9 points, with Seoul also ending up slightly by 0.06% to 1,982.09 points.
The Dow and S&P 500 edged higher to new records Wednesday following a stream of mixed US economic data.
But in Asian trade the focus shifted to oil prices, which retreated further as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) was tipped to resist pressure to rein in production and curb falling prices when it meets later on Thursday.
"All eyes are squarely on Opec now. We suspect they will decide to keep to their current 30 million barrel-a-day production level," said David Lennox, resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney.
But he added: "They could make some token, insignificant cuts in production... OPEC has been inclined to surprises before."
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery fell 89 cents to $72.80, while Brent crude for January was down $1.19 to $76.56 in afternoon trade.
WTI fell 40 cents in New York late Wednesday to its lowest closing point since September 2010. Brent eased 58 cents in London.
The 12-nation talks in Vienna will be one of Opec's toughest and most significant meetings in recent years, with members urged to act after oil prices sank 30% since June.
Opec's poorer members, led by Venezuela and Ecuador, have called publicly for a cut in output.
But the Gulf members led by kingpin Saudi Arabia are opposed unless they are guaranteed market share in the highly competitive arena. They also fear that high prices could spur on the upstart US shale oil industry.
Traders have been digesting a plethora of statements from petroleum ministers ahead of the meeting.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi was quoted as saying he expects the oil market to "stabilise itself eventually", a remark Dow Jones Newswires said suggested he did not see the need for major cuts.
Iran's oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said his position was similar to Naimi's, even as he expressed concerns about a glut.
Opec is currently pumping around 31 million barrels a day, some 43% of global production, analysts estimate.
In Tokyo, the European common currency slipped to $1.2503 and 146.71 yen against $1.2506 and 147.22 yen in New York.
The dollar was lower at 117.29 yen, compared with 117.72 yen in US trading.