Asian equities fell and crude oil hovered near nine-month highs early on Friday as escalating civil war in Iraq hit risk appetite. Sunni Islamist militants have extended their advance south towards Baghdad prompting President Barack Obama to warn of possible U.S. military intervention, while Iraqi Kurdish forces took control of the oil hub of Kirkuk amid the chaos. Taking its cue from an overnight slide in U.S. stocks, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.2 percent.