The Tokyo equities markets were down substantially on Monday as crude oil prices rose to new highs yet again, peaking at over $70 per barrel.

The Nikkei 225 lost 1 percent to 12,309.83, while the Topix index declined by 1.1 percent to 1,258.64.

Stocks were down almost across the board as it was believed by investors that high oil prices would hit exports only marginally more than they would hit companies that depend on domestic demand.

Energy-dependent sectors did especially badly, with the sea transport sector down 2 percent as a whole, while the air transport sector was down an even larger 2.2 percent, due to a bomb scare on a Japan Airlines plane as well as to the surge in oil prices.

Information and communications stocks were down 1.4 percent, while the transport equipment sector fell 1.3 percent, and precision machinery as a whole lost 1.2 percent.

In the airlines sector, Japan Airlines lost 3.1 percent to ¥313 and All Nippon Airways fell by 1.4 percent to ¥362. Japan’s largest automobile manufacturer lost 2 percent to ¥4,450, and it’s biggest shipper, Nippon Yusen, declined by 1.7 percent to ¥686.

Japan’s largest brokerage house, Nomura, lost 1.6 percent to ¥1,488 as the securities sector as a whole fell by 1.5 percent.