Stocks Fall Sharply in Asia

Stocks in Asia fell sharply early Monday after major oil producers failed to reach an agreement to curtail production in Doha over the weekend.

The Nikkei was down 3.2%, South Korea's Kospi was off 0.6% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.7%. Energy stocks in Australia were off 3.4%.

The losses came as oil prices opened sharply lower in early Asian trading hours. Over the weekend, talks between oil producers collapsed when Saudi Arabia reasserted a demand that Iran also agree to cap its oil production. Brent crude oil was last down 5.1% at $40.88 a barrel.

Commodity producers BHP Billiton Ltd., Rio Tinto Ltd., and Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd. were off 3%, 1.3% and 2% respectively. Japan-listed oil producer Inpex Corp. plunged 7.3%.

In currencies, the Australian dollar fell by more than 1% against the U.S. dollar, as worries grew that the country would take a hit to its commodity-heavy exports.

The Japanese yen, considered a safe haven, strengthened, and was last up 0.6% against the U.S. dollar. Gold prices, also bought up during market turmoil, rose 0.4%.

Write to Chao Deng at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 17, 2016 21:55 ET (01:55 GMT)

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