The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.3 percent to 136.41 as of 9:02 a.m. in Tokyo, before markets in China and Hong Kong opened. Brent crude rose as much as 3 percent yesterday and the Standard & Poor?s 500 Index fell the most in a month as Ukraine accused Russia of threatening to seize its warships in the Crimea with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry due to arrive in Kiev amid the worsening standoff.

?Investors are seeking protection in safe havens,? Matthew Sherwood, who helps manage about $25 billion as the Sydney-based head of investment markets research at Perpetual Ltd., said in an e-mail. ?The major risk here is the negative impact that higher oil prices will have on discretionary spending, especially in the emerging markets.?

Japan?s Topix index slid 0.6 percent as the yen traded at 101.45 per dollar, while South Korea?s Kospi index declined 0.4 percent. Australia?s S& P/ASX 200 Index (AS51) added 0.3 percent, with the central bank projected to keep interest rates at a record low today. New Zealand?s NZX 50 Index rose 0.3 percent, extending gains from yesterday?s record close.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 5.9 percent from this year?s low on Feb. 4 through last week. The gauge yesterday traded at 12.9 times the estimated earnings of its constituent companies, compared with 15.7 for the S& P 500 and 14.3 for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Ukraine Crisis

Crimea, where ethnic Russians comprise the majority, has become the focal point of Ukraine?s crisis after an uprising triggered last month?s ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych. Ukraine has mobilized its army and called for foreign observers after Russian forces took control of the peninsula. Russia, which keeps its Black Sea fleet at Sevastopol, raised its key interest rate yesterday as asset prices plummeted.

In China, the National People?s Congress annual meeting begins tomorrow. The latest meeting of the legislature, the first to be overseen by President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, comes as leaders pledge to give markets a ?decisive? role in the economy.

Investors will be watching the NPC meeting for clues to the next steps to fix local-government finances, charge market prices for natural resources, rein in shadow-banking risks, free up deposit rates and open up state businesses to private investment.