Japan's Nikkei logged the worst performance in Asia, amid a strengthening yen and fallout from aftershocks
Asian stocks got slammed by plunging crude futures, after a meeting of global oil producers -- minus Iran -- in Doha, Qatar, ended without an agreement to freeze oil production. In Japan, the Nikkei slumped 3.4%, as the yen hovered near an 18-month high against the U.S. dollar and aftershocks from Thursday's earthquake prompted companies such as Toyota to curb production. China's Shanghai Composite, meanwhile, gave back 1.4%. Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 0.7%, while South Korea's Kospi lost 0.3%.
Declining oil prices are weighing on European markets at midday. Additionally, chipmakers are trading lower, amid reports that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) could
continue to reduce iPhone production due to slumping sales. At last check, the French CAC 40 is off 0.4%, while the German DAX and London's FTSE 100 are flirting with 0.3% drops.
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