World Stock Prices Plunge but Oil Soars : Markets: Companies scramble to secure supplies as Japan and the European Community join in halting oil imports from Iraq.

Stock prices worldwide plunged, and oil prices rose more than $3 a barrel today after Japan and the European Community joined other nations in halting imports of Iraqi oil to protest the invasion of Kuwait.

Tokyo’s Nikkei stock market index tumbled 916.23 points, or 3.1%, to 28,599.53 after shedding 729.42 points Friday.

“With Japan so dependent on oil, the bond market is getting battered by the high prices, and stocks responded in kind today,” said a broker at a major Japanese brokerage. “If I were an investor, I certainly wouldn’t be buying stocks right now.”

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng stock index shed 248.97 points, or 7.42%, to close at 3,107.98.

“I would describe it as panic selling--selling for the sake of selling,” said James Osborn of Baring Securities.

Crude oil prices leaped more than $3 a barrel in Asia as oil companies scrambled to secure supplies. U.S. West Texas Intermediate climbed to $27.45 a barrel for October delivery from $24.38 in the New York futures market Friday.

Gold bullion was quoted at $379.35 an ounce in late Tokyo trading against New York’s $377.60/378.10 close Friday.

In the Singapore stock market, the Straits Times industrial index dropped to the year’s lowest level, losing 96.03 points, or 6.35%, to close at 1,415.02.

“It was all sell, sell. No one was interested in buying,” one broker said.

Even the Australian stock market, where oil stocks benefited from the crisis, finished sharply weaker. The All Ordinaries index ended off 41.4 points at 1,548.3.

In Europe, share prices plummeted on London’s Stock Exchange as worries over increasing oil prices gripped the market.

At the close, the Financial Times-Stock Exchange 100-share index fell 64.4 points, or 2.9%, to 2,220.2. The session low was 2,202.5. It peaked at 2,253.1.

Volume came to a busy 591.3 million shares compared with 523.4 million shares.