Asian share markets fell and oil futures in Japan jumped yesterday after a weekend attack at a Saudi oil complex that left 22 dead, while the dollar weakened and investors bought gold as a safe-haven.
The Nikkei average was closed 0.7 percent lower at 11,236.37, led by a 2.4 percent tumble in NTT DoCoMo Inc.
"There's no need to buy [stocks] now when everything is so uncertain, like oil prices and US interest rates," said Teruhisa Ishikawa, a manager at Mizuho Investors Securities' investment information department.
On the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM), the benchmark October crude oil contract was up ?610, or 2.7 percent, at ?22,980 per kiloliter.
Other heavily oil-dependent Asian share markets also sank. Taiwan's weighted index fell 2.6 percent and South Korea's KOSPI dropped 1.6 percent, led by a 2.7 percent fall in the market's biggest stock, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.
The only market not in negative territory was Australia's S&P ASX 200, which closed 0.3 percent higher, led by banks on rising hopes that interest rates would not be raised this week.
The attack by suspected al-Qaeda militants in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, the second in a month, put oil supply fears back on center stage ahead of a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Thursday.
Foreign investors were mostly away as US and European financial markets were to be closed on Monday.
World benchmark oil markets in New York and London were closed but were expected to rise on reopening today.
Gold took on a safe-haven shine on renewed concern that rising oil prices and a weaker dollar would drive inflationary pressure in the US. Spot gold was at US$394.85 versus US$393.80 in New York on Friday.
The dollar fell to a three-week low against the yen in holiday-thinned trade, buying ?109.48, compared with ?110.22 in late New York trade on Friday.
It was around US$1.2201 per euro, compared with around US$1.2225 on Friday.
Oil futures jumped across the board in Tokyo, giving an indication of how global oil traders would react to the news from the Middle East.
"It is unlikely that Saudi oil supplies will be disrupted for now, but many people are concerned," said Kaname Gokon, research manager at oil futures broker Okato Shoji Co.
State-run Saudi Aramco said in a statement that none of its facilities or personnel had been affected by the attack and that operations were normal.
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