Oil soars, Asia stocks tumble on Libya violence

HONG KONG: Oil surged to a more than two-year high and Asian stocks slumped on Tuesday as the political crisis in Libya worsened, with reports of escalating violence against pro-democracy demonstrators.

The Nikkei was also weighed by profit-taking among banks after ratings agency Moody's said it had lowered its outlook on Japan's sovereign debt due to concerns the government would not be able to bring it under control.

Wellington's stock market also suffered a sell-off after the New Zealand city of Christchurch was hit by an earthquake that left 65 people dead, toppled buildings and ignited fires.

On oil markets, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in April jumped $1.53 to $107.27 per barrel in the afternoon, its highest since late 2008, while New York's main contract, light sweet crude for March, surged $7.20 to $93.40.

Investors bought up the black gold amid growing concerns over supply from the oil-rich Middle East and North Africa region.

Rising oil prices were in turn heightening fears about resurgent inflation in several countries including India, traders said.

Several companies have already stopped drilling for oil in Libya, after gunfire rattled Tripoli Monday as protesters attacked police stations and offices of the state broadcaster and set government buildings on fire.

Reports said government gunmen had fired "indiscriminately" at demonstrators.

Human rights groups said hundreds of people had been killed in the protests that have been inspired by revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia.

Uprisings have taken place across the region, including Iran, Yemen, Morocco and Bahrain.

"Rising violence in Libya and Bahrain are providing support to oil prices, with geopolitics a key focus of the market currently," said Barclays Capital in a report.

Tokyo slumped 1.78 percent, or 192.83 points, to 10,664.70 as the resource-poor country relies heavily on oil from the Middle East.

The crisis in Libya led Prime Minister Naoto Kan to call an emergency meeting of his top ministers to discuss the problem.

The index's fall came after it hit near 10-month highs on Monday, with banks the worst hit after Moody's cut its outlook on Japan to "negative".

The agency said the government's policies may not be strong enough to contain the industrialised world's biggest debt.

The agency previously held a "stable" outlook on the nation's "Aa2" rating, the third highest on a scale of 19, and analysts said the outlook change would likely lead to a downgrade.

It follows rival agency Standard & Poor's decision to cut Japan's rating for the first time since 2002.

Mitsubishi UFG Financial Group fell 3.61 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group dived 4.53 percent.

In Sydney the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.88 percent, or 43.3 points, to 4,856.7 and Hong Kong tumbled 2.11 percent, or 494.61 points, to 22,990.81.

Shanghai slumped 2.62 percent, or 76.73 points, to 2,855.52 as dealers withdrew funds a day before a huge bond issue by oil giant Sinopec.

"International turmoil in the Middle East and the Dow being closed for an extra day has seen European markets lead the way with falls (Monday) and that is affecting sentiment," Craigs Investment Partners broker Bryon Burke told Dow Jones Newswires in New Zealand.

US markets were shut Monday for Presidents' Day.

Wellington fell 0.69 percent, or 23.23 points, to 3,358.70 after Christchurch was hit by a magnitude 6.3 quake.

The tremor, which comes after a powerful quake in September, forced the evacuation of the city centre and closure of the main airport.

The euro sank to $1.3545 from $1.3681 in London Monday, while it tumbled to 112.17 yen from 113.75 yen. The dollar edged up to 83.22 yen from 83.14 yen.

The Middle East troubles also attracted traders to safe haven gold, which jumped to $1,400.00-$1,401.00 an ounce by the close in Hong Kong, up from Monday's finish of $1,396.50-$1,397.50.

In other markets:

-- Seoul fell 1.76 percent, or 35.38 points, to 1,969.92.

-- Singapore fell 1.68 percent, or 51.48 points, to 3,019.12.

CapitaLand fell 2.08 percent to Sg$3.29 and Singapore Telecommunications shed 1.70 percent to Sg$2.89.

-- Taipei tumbled 1.87 percent, or 165.55 points, to 8,673.67.

Hon Hai shed 2.19 percent to Tw$111.5 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company fell 1.36 percent to Tw$72.5.

-- Jakarta lost 1.33 percent, or 46.54 points, to 3,451.10, weighed by concerns that rising oil prices due to ongoing Middle East tensions may increase inflationary pressure.

Bank Mandiri fell 0.8 percent to 5,950 rupiah, while Bank Rakyat Indonesia dropped 3.1 percent to 4,750 rupiah.

-- Kuala Lumpur fell 0.80 percent, or 12.22 points, to 1,513.63.

Malaysian Airline System as down 2.9 percent at 2.02 ringgit and IOI Corp. fell 2.0 percent to 5.48 while Genting Malaysia was off 1.8 percent at 3.32.

-- Manila fell 1.39 percent, or 53.37 points, to 2,784.07.

Aboitiz Power slipped 1.8 percent to 27 pesos, Alliance Global Group was down 1.4 percent at 11.60 and Philippine Long Distance Telephone lost 0.7 percent to 2,276.

-- Bangkok slipped 0.85 percent, or 8.46 points, to 987.21.

Banpu lost 10.00 baht to 758.00, while PTT gained 2.00 baht to 333.00.

-- Mumbai fell 0.77 percent on Tuesday, or 142.15 points, to 18,296.16.

Rate-sensitive banking and auto stocks fell, as concerns over inflation grew due to higher oil prices.

India's largest commercial bank, State Bank of India fell 2.31 percent, or 64.45 rupees, to 2,727.05, while the largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India fell 2.38 percent, or 28.9 rupees, to 1,183.75.

India's largest private firm and energy giant Reliance Industries rose 2.98 percent, or 28.55 rupees, to 985.05, after BP said it would pay $7.2 billion for a 30 percent stake in Reliance's oil and gas assets.