(Repeats to fix formatting)
* Japan's Nikkei extends losses after disaster, down 5 pct
* Australian shares fall 0.5 pct, Korea flat
* Oil close to Monday's close on fresh Mideast unrest
SEOUL, March 15 (Reuters) - Shares in Asia's developed
markets outside of Japan fell modestly on Tuesday on losses in
the resource sector and companies exposed to the nuclear
industry.
Japan's Nikkei average opened down 1.9 percent but
quickly extended losses to trade down 5 percent, adding to
losses of more than 6 percent on Monday. The yen fell
slightly to 81.80 against the dollar.
South Korea stocks fell 0.2 percent at the open, hit
by falling nuclear engineering companies, before recovering to
trade little changed.
Australian shares shares initially fell 0.5 percent,
weighed down by uranium stocks as Japan battled a fresh hydrogen
explosion at a quake-stricken nuclear reactor.
Paladin shares were down 4.5 percent in early trade
while Energy Resources of Australia , a unit of global
miner Rio Tinto fell 0.7 percent.
Oil rebounded from lows triggered by Japan's earthquake
after Saudi Arabia sent troops into Bahrain to help respond to
protests, refocusing some attention on the unrest in the region.
Brent crude futures for April delivery fell 15
cents to $113.52 a barrel from Monday's close after sliding to a
low of $111.16 on Monday, the lowest since Feb. 25.
In Seoul, nuclear power issues such as KEPCO Engineering &
Construction fell more than 5 percent while stocks
that had rallied on Monday in the chipmaking, steel and
automakers following news of production disruption by its
Japanese peers, pared their gains.
U.S. Treasury yields stabilised fell overnight to their
lowest levels since January on the unrest in the Middle East
which outweighed fears Japanase insurers would sell to respond
to the earthquake.
Japan is the second-biggest holder of U.S. government debt.
Benchmark 10-year notes were at 3.37 percent.
(Reporting by David Chance; Editing by Lincoln
Feast)
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