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INSTANT VIEW-Oil, Japan's yen up on reports Israeli missiles hit Iran

Oil and gold prices increased and Japan's yen rallied on Friday on reports Israeli missiles have hit a website in Iran.

Iran's Fars news agency stated explosions were heard at an airport in the Iranian city of Isfahan however the cause was not instantly known. A number of flights were diverted over Iranian airspace, CNN reported.

Israel had actually said it was going to strike back versus Iran after the latter's April 13 rocket and drone attack.

Market reaction:

QUOTES:

MOH SIONG SIM, CURRENCY STRATEGIST, BANK OF SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE

It's pretty obvious market is nervous ... I believe today we do not actually have the details. It actually depends on how calibrated the attacks are. So I believe markets are at this phase in a flight to safety mode ... today, we're still in a. situation where we know something has actually occurred. However we need to. understand the degree of the degree of retaliation.

DAMIEN BOEY, CHIEF MACRO STRATEGIST, BARRENJOEY, SYDNEY

I believe what's taking place in the Middle East is making that. upward inflection point with global inflation all the more real.

Today equities are down and bonds are up ... Look, that. makes sense from a danger point of view, but I still believe that. bonds and equities are basically still associated. To me,. up until we fix this uncertainty about international inflation,. in fact bonds and equities will move together. So there's not a. great deal of diversification. What I 'd much rather be doing is looking. at a 3rd alternative property class, which obviously would be. products. Commodities have actually been a very unloved source of. diversity. Now what you're beginning to see is that no. matter whether interest rates in the U.S. increase or down, gold. rates are just increasing and that's informing you that there's a. rush to the exits to get out of the important things which are moving too. carefully together, like bonds and stocks and perhaps credit.

Gold rates have actually risen in spite of the stronger U.S. dollar. So. what occurs when the U.S. dollar ultimately decreases? What. you'll find is that the U.S. dollar will probably be too. expensive and require to come down, in which case gold could get. another leg up.

KHOON GOH, HEAD OF ASIA RESEARCH STUDY, ANZ, SINGAPORE

Markets have actually definitely responded really, really promptly to the. news reports. We have actually seen an enormous risk-off relocation with gold. rallying, oil prices rallying, and standard danger possessions. getting sold out hard. I guess markets at this stage will want. to get higher clarity and verification over the level of the. attack, and I believe more significantly, any action from Iran ...

Markets will be extremely anxious that this is the start of a. tit-for-tat escalation which could create big volatility in the. Middle East.

CHRISTOPHER WONG, CURRENCY STRATEGIST, OCBC, SINGAPORE

It's a huge dampener on threat properties, consisting of equities and. most currencies.

While policymakers in the region and the U.S. have. collectively taken a more proactive position to relax FX markets,. the re-emergence of geopolitical shocks may unnerve beliefs. Safe-haven proxies consisting of gold, dollar, Swiss franc, and yen. may see more demand in the interim.

CHARU CHANANA, HEAD OF CURRENCY METHOD, SAXO, SINGAPORE

A triple whammy of sorts for the marketplaces, as Fed's. hawkishness keeps taking an upper hand with each passing day and. semiconductor incomes have so far failed to counter that. run the risk of off.

To top it off, geopolitical dangers have escalated once again with. Israel's strikes on Iran, and risk belief might stay weak. as we wait for more information on damages and casualties, and worries of. an Iran reaction are likewise likely to underpin..