Asia stocks down after US losses, Iran strikes

TOKYO, June 8: Stocks in Asia fell sharply and oil prices rose early Monday after Iran fired missiles at Israel and following heavy losses on Wall Street.

At 9:53 am (0053 GMT) Japan's Nikkei 225 was off 3.41 percent at 64,318.06 points while South Korea's Kospi was down 6.81 percent at 7,604.98.

Brent crude was up 2.4 percent at $95.32 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was 2.3 percent higher at $92.59.

Air raid sirens sounded in Israel on Sunday as its military said it intercepted incoming Iranian missiles, the first such barrage since an April ceasefire took hold in the Middle East war.�"AFP