SINGAPORE - Share prices in key Asian markets were mostly lower by the end of their morning trade amid rising oil prices.

Asian stocks were stung by the technology sector, which anticipated slower global demand, while oil rose above US$116 a barrel as a quarter of US crude production was halted ahead of Hurricane Gustav.

Gustav was expected to strike land west of New Orleans, on the Louisiana coast, only days after the sombre anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastation in 2005, though the storm was not expected to strengthen significantly once it made landfall.

The October US light crude contract climbed 83 cents in early Asian trade to US$116.29 a barrel. US markets are closed on Monday for a holiday.

Japan's Nikkei stock index fell 1.35 per cent by midday, weighed by shares of tech companies like TDK Corp and electronics parts maker Kyocera Corp.

Stark comments about slowing global demand for technology from the world's second-largest computer maker Dell, which knocked US stocks lower on Friday, dealt a blow to a sector whose valuations have been among the hardest hit by the bear market.

Elsewhere, South Korea's KOSPI fell 3.2 per cent at 0459GMT, led by shares of Samsung Electronics and LG Corp.

Chinese shares tumbled 2.62 per cent by midday, while Hong Kong stocks ended morning trade 1.7 per cent lower.

In Singapore, the blue-chip Straits Times Index fell 28.10 points to 2,711.85 by the midday break.

- CNA/ir