Asian stocks tentative on anxiety over volatile oil

Asian shares got off to a shaky start on Thursday as investors remained cautious in the face of a fragile recovery in volatile crude oil - a source of much of the recent anxiety about the health of the global economy. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down a touch, while Japan's Nikkei stock index added about 0.5 percent as the yen moved off recent highs. The British pound sterling steadied at $1.3927 after dropping to a seven-year low of $1.3878 in the previous sess