* Nikkei skids as investors assess Kumamoto quake impact
* Some signs of recovery in European trade
* US stocks slightly higher in late morning trade
Oil prices slumped on Monday after producers failed to agree on a plan to curb global supply at a meeting in Qatar, while world stock markets edged higher.
Wall Street and European stocks rebounded modestly after earlier losses spurred by the failure of major oil-producing nations to agree on an output freeze in an oversupplied world market.
Health care shares led the advance on the US benchmark S&P 500 index, while shares of International Business Machines climbed 0.6% ahead of its results.
The decline in oil prices damped down a more optimistic tone that had prevailed for much of the past week.
Some 18 oil-exporting nations, including Opec members, had gathered in Doha over the weekend in an attempt to agree to stabilise output at January levels until October 2016. The pact fell apart after Saudi Arabia demanded that Iran join in.
Brent crude futures fell 0.6% to $42.82 per barrel, while benchmark US crude futures dropped below $40 and were last down 1.6% at $39.71.
Concerns over the possible economic impact of falling oil prices, weak growth in China and disappointing corporate results have dogged investors for much of the year so far.
On Wall Street, energy shares climbed despite lower oil prices and the market extended recent gains.
"This is definitely negative news for the energy sector, but it seems the index can still hang on there," said Zhiwei Ren, managing director and portfolio manager at Penn Mutual Asset Management.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 57.71 points, or 0.32%, to 17,955.17, the S&P 500 had gained 7.73 points, or 0.37%, to 2,088.46 and the Nasdaq Composite had added 13.21 points, or 0.27%, to 4,951.43.
MSCI's all-country world stock index was little changed. In Europe, the pan-regional FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.3%.
Brazil's Bovespa index was also flat after a vote to impeach President Dilma Rousseff that looked set to force her from office after 13 years of leftist Workers Party rule.
In Japan, the Nikkei tumbled more than 3% after a devastating earthquake in the southwest of the country, with shares of Sony Corp, which has a plant in the Kumamoto area at the center of Saturday's quake, falling almost 7%. US-listed shares of Sony fell 0.6%.
Toyota Motor Corp tumbled 4.8% after it suspended production across Japan due to quake-related disruptions to its supply chain.
The US dollar edged higher against the yen, and commodity currencies pared losses, after traders viewed a strike by Kuwaiti oil and gas workers as supportive of oil prices and anticipated low volatility this week.
The dollar was last up 0.07% against the yen at 108.81 yen after slumping to a session low pf 107.81 yen, near a 17-month low of 107.61 yen touched a week ago.
US Treasury yields rose slightly despite falling oil prices amid a dearth of major economic releases this week. Investors were focused on an impending Federal Reserve meeting next week.
Benchmark 10-year notes were last down 5/32 in price to yield 1.77%, up from 1.75% on Friday.
