Asia report: Markets lower as Brent tops $99, stronger yen hits Tokyo stocks

(Sharecast News) - Asian stock markets finished mostly lower on Tuesday, with Japanese equities falling sharply on the back of a stronger yen, while rising oil prices dampened sentiment across the board.

Brent crude was 1.6% higher at $98.54 a barrel, hitting a daily high of $99.46 to reach a six-week high, due to ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis attacked several cities in Saudi Arabia, wounding more than 70 people and igniting fires at several oil facilities, raising fresh concerns about further fuel supply disruptions in the region.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was the standout faller of the day, losing 1.7% as the yen hit a seven-month high ahead of next week's Bank of Japan meeting, with expectations growing for a rate hike.

The JPY rose as much as 152.89 a dollar, its highest level since February, before easing to 154 late on, but still remains well above the 160-a-dollar rate seen last week.

"A rising yen is bad news for Japanese exporters. There were sharp declines today for Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Yamaha, Nissan and Toyota, which fell more than 4%," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

"Authorities will need to be wary going forward. While it is necessary to build yen strength, they will need to do so in an orderly fashion to stop unintended consequences from wreaking havoc on financial markets."

The tech-heavy KOSPI fell 0.6%, the Hang Seng and STI both slipped 0.4%, and the Sensex dropped 0.7%, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2%.