Uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East have led to risk aversion among investors, causing them to buy up safe-haven assets such as gold and the Swiss franc, which hit a record high against the dollar.
With thousands fleeing Libya, opponents of leader Moamer Kadhafi seemed to be in control of swathes of the nation as he clung to his four-decade rule.
The 68-year-old despot vowed on Tuesday to purge opponents "house by house" and "inch by inch", drawing condemnation from US President Barack Obama.
With crude shipments from the country curtailed, prices jumped to highs not seen since 2008, potentially fuelling inflation at a time when many nations, particularly in Asia, are trying to keep it under control.
Brent North Sea crude -- which is more sensitive to Middle East unrest because of Europe's greater dependence on oil from the region -- reached $119.79 in European trade late in the Asian day, before receding somewhat.
Foreign oil workers were fleeing Libya, leading analysts to raise the prospect of an oil crisis.
Fears of the unrest spreading in the region were pushing prices higher, said Victor Shum, senior principal of Purvin and Gertz energy consultants in Singapore.
"The concerns go beyond Libya, which is a relatively small oil producer, to the bigger oil producers that may be affected if the revolt spread," he told AFP.
Morocco, Bahrain, Yemen and Iran are already witnessing uprisings, after similar movements led to the ouster of the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia. In Saudi Arabia King Abdullah decreed an increase in social benefits to try to head off a similar fate.
Investors looking for safe havens pushed gold to $1,414.00-$1,415.00 an ounce by the end of Hong Kong trade, up from Wednesday's close of $1,400.00-$1,401.00.
Stocks were mostly lower as dealers continued to cash out for a fourth day.
Tokyo fell 1.19 percent, or 126.39 points, to end at 10,452.71, while Sydney closed down 0.75 percent, or 36.60 points, at 4,809.30.
Mumbai was down 1.50 percent intraday, the exchange's third day of losses, after street demonstrations on Wednesday highlighted the problem of inflation.
Hong Kong tumbled 1.34 percent, or 305.86 points, to 22,601.04, extending its losing streak to four straight sessions.
Stocks were also dragged down by an 0.88 percent fall on the Dow in New York.
However, Shanghai ended 0.56 percent, or 15.97 points, higher at 2,878.60, led by gains in coal miners and oil firms.
The dollar firmed slightly to 0.9280 Swiss francs in afternoon trade, after sliding to 0.9273 earlier, but still below its previous record low of 0.9301 marked in December.
The euro rose to $1.3781 in Tokyo trade from 1.3746 in New York late Wednesday. The common currency fell to 113.02 yen from 113.37 yen.
The dollar fell to 82.01 yen from 82.46 yen.
"Risk-averse investors are snapping up the Swiss franc and the yen" due to the Middle Eastern violence, said Akihiro Tanaka, a dealer at Resona Bank.
"Market participants have yet to figure out its impact on the global economy and concerns linger over how the turmoil would spread in the region."
In other markets:
-- Seoul fell 0.60 percent, or 11.75 points, to 1,949.88.
-- Wellington fell 0.11 percent, or 3.71 points, to 3,368.35.
Fletcher Building rose 0.4 percent to NZ$8.58. Goldman Sachs broker Peter Sigley said the rise was "fully reflective of the amount of work that has to be done" in Christchurch after Tuesday's 6.3 magnitude earthquake devastated the city.
Nuplex fell 5.6 percent to NZ$3.39 after a disappointing earnings report but Auckland Airport rose 0.9 percent to NZ$2.26.
-- Manila fell 0.70 percent, or 26.20 points, to 3,730.84.
Philippine Long Distance Telephone was 1.8 percent off at 2,198 pesos and Semirara Mining fell 0.1 percent to 199.70. Aboitiz Power was up 1.5 percent at 27.75.
-- Taipei rose 0.15 percent, or 12.70 points, to 8,541.64.
Taiwan Fertiliser Co rose 3.98 percent to Tw$94.0, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing was 0.7 percent higher at Tw$70.5.
-- Jakarta fell 1.01 percent, or 34.99 points, to 3,439.13.
-- Singapore fell 0.96 percent, or 28.77 points, to 2,973.08.
DBS Bank fell 0.42 percent to Sg$14.20 and car distributor Jardine Cycle and Carriage dropped 0.85 percent to Sg$32.72.
-- Kuala Lumpur fell 1.40 percent, or 21.24 points, to 1,489.87.
Airports operator Malaysia Airports Holdings slid 6.0 percent to 1.88 ringgit, while telecommunications firm YTL Corp dropped 4.6 percent to 7.06. Gaming giant Genting slipped 2.9 percent to 10.08. For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
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