Terror warning pushes Asia down
(CNN) -- Asian markets closed mainly lower Monday as investors responded warily to a new terror warning issued by the U.S. government.
The record price of oil is also weighing on markets with U.S. light crude futures pushing close to a 21-year high of $44 a barrel.
The heaviest fall was in South Korea, where the Kospi index fell more than 2 percent. Taiwan lost 1.3 percent.
Tech-related stocks and other export-oriented issues dependent on the U.S. market posted hefty falls.
The dollar slipped against the Japanese yen, trading late in the day in Tokyo at 111.18 yen.
Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average finished the day down 0.91 percent to 11,222.24. On Friday, the index put on 1.88 percent.
The broader Topix index of all first section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell just 0.32 percent to 1135.64. The Topix rose 1.54 percent on Friday.
Mitsubishi Motors plunged more than 8 percent to a record low of 90 yen ahead of figures showing its sales in July were down 60 percent from a year earlier.
Among other automakers, Nissan fell 1.5 percent and Toyota lost 1.1 percent.
Among techs, Toshiba fell 0.7 percent and Sony gave up half a percent. Telco KDDI dropped 3.5 percent, but larger rival NTT DoCoMo rose 2 percent to 198,000 yen.
There were sharp falls among the big banks, with MTFG and SMFG both down 2.6 percent, and UFJ slipping almost 2.5 percent to 436,000 yen. Mizuho, which is standing aside from the merger flurry affecting the other three top banks, put on 1 percent to 426,000 yen.
Investors in Asia weighed Sunday's warning by the United States of possible terrorist attacks against financial institutions in New York City, Washington and Newark, New Jersey. (Full story)
Oil prices hit record highs on concerns over supply disruptions and after the United States raised its security alert to high.(Full story)
Fall in Seoul
In Seoul, the Kospi fell 2.14 percent to 719.59, with declines of more than 2 percent each for market heavyweight Samsung Electronics, big exporter Hyundai Motor, and key telco SK Telecom.
Daum Communications rose after it said it would buy U.S. portal Lycos for $95 million.
Taiwan's Taiex gave up 1.29 percent to finish at 5350.40. Among the chip foundries, UMC lost 0.9 percent to T421.50 and the market's biggest stock, TSMC, fell 0.23 percent to T$42.80.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 moved against the trend, putting on 0.25 percent to 3544.9. Telstra rose 0.8 percent to A$4.97 on optimism about its prospects.
But media giant News Corp fell 1 percent to A$12.10. Investors are waiting on this week's meeting of the central bank
New Zealand's Top 50 eased from last week's record high, closing 0.41 percent lower at 2776.64.
In Singapore, the Straits Times index is off 0.32 percent to 1885.65 heading towards the close, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is 0.65 percent in the red at 12,158.54. Leading bank HSBC is off 0.4 percent to HK$114.50.
In New York Friday, U.S. stocks posted a modest gain. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 10.47, or 0.1 percent, to 10,139.71. The Nasdaq composite index gained 6.30, or 0.3 percent, to 1,887.36. (Full story)
