Oil prices continue to rise while stock markets fall. Monday's decline continued into Tuesday.
Japan's Nikkei 225 and Topix both fell about 2 percent by lunchtime.
South Korea's Kospi started the day sharply lower and was down 4.4 percent at 1 p.m. local time.
In Hong Kong and mainland China, the declines are somewhat smaller. The Hang Seng is down 0.3 percent, while Shenzhen and Shanghai are down 1 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.
