Japanese stocks fell Monday morning as investors sold exporter issues as oil prices soared above $70 a barrel for the first time. The dollar rose against the yen. The Nikkei 225 index lost 119.96 points, or 0.96 percent, to end morning trading at 12,319.52 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The index gained 34.32 points or 0.28 percent, on Friday. Oil prices surged as Hurricane Katrina barreled toward the heart of America's oil and refinery operations, shutting down an estimated 1 million barrels of refining capacity and sharply curbing offshore production in the region. In Asian trading on the the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil futures rose as high as $70.80 a barrel, raising concerns about spiraling corporate costs. Electronics makers including NEC Corp. and Sony Corp., as well as automakers Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., were among losers Monday morning. Wall Street's weakness on Friday also pressured Japanese stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 53.34, or 0.51 percent, to 10,397.29, the index's lowest close in more than seven weeks. In currency trading, the dollar bought 110.29 yen on the Tokyo foreign exchange market at 11 a.m. (0200 GMT) Monday, up 0.50 yen from late Friday and also above the 110.20 yen it bought later that day in New York. The euro fell to $1.2316 from $1.2326 late Friday. The yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond fell to 1.3900 percent from its close of 1.4050 late Friday. Its price rose 0.13 point to 99.22.