The September WTI crude oil futures contract in NYMEX ACCESS trade at 11:15 hours Tokyo time on Thursday was at $46.75 per barrel (bbl), down 4cts from the closing price in New York on Wednesday while the October Brent contract in ICE After Hours Trading was at $49.69/bbl, down 16cts. "Although prices edged lower amid position adjustment activity on Thrusday, expectations that producers will make concerted efforts to stabilize crude markets has kept buying in crude futures active," Tatsufumi Okoshi, a senior economist at Nomura Securities said. Okoshi was referring to an unofficial meeting by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to be held in late September in Algeria during which the cartel is expected to address production issues. Meanwhile, the Nikkei Stock Average settled at 16,678.59 points losing 67.05 points as the dollar stood at 99.81 against the yen.

RECX-22 index for Thursday was at 66.25 points, down 0.18 points from Wednesday due to declines in the benzene index.