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Asian shares fall from record highs on oil gains due to Iran risk

Asian shares fell from record highs Thursday, as oil prices 'extended their gains due to renewed shipping problems?in Gulf. This underscored fragile risk sentiment in the face of a 'peace deal that eludes both the U.S.

European stocks are preparing for a weaker opening, with panregional futures down 1,1%. Wall Street futures fell 0.5% in Asia.

Overnight, S&P 500 rose 1%, and Nasdaq rose 1.6%, to set new record-closing heights. This was helped by the strong start of earnings season, which has eased consumer concerns over the U.S. economy despite the rising cost of energy due to the "Iran War".

MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan, which tracks Wall Street, had risen to an all-time high of 831.56 but soon began to sell. Last down 0.5%.

Nikkei, the Japanese stock index, reached a new record for the second consecutive day. It then fell 0.9%. Taiwan and South Korea's markets also reached new highs before turning lower.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.1% and China's blue chip index dropped 0.8%.

Brent crude futures rose another 1.4% to $103.3 per barrel on Thursday, after soaring 3.5% overnight and crossing back over $100.

Iran on Wednesday 'captured' two container ships that were trying to leave the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz. Investors are watching the Middle East ceasefire, which is fragile, to see if it will last.

The markets are on edge. "We are still in the no-war no-peace area, which means that even an unverified fear of escalation could jolt crude oil and send risk assets down," said Charu C. Chanana. Chief investment strategist at Saxo.

Oil's rise, even without any clear trigger, shows that investors are still highly sensitive to tail risks.

Overnight on Wall Street, shares of GE Vernova surged 13.75% after the power equipment maker raised its annual revenue forecast on the AI boom, and Boeing advanced over 5% after ?a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss.

Tesla, the electric automaker, reported a positive surprise in its free cash flow for the first quarter. However, investors were sceptical about the company's projections of?sharply higher spending plans on AI and robots, which led to a 2% drop in shares after the bell.

Treasury yields increased with oil prices. After a slight increase of 1 basis point on Wednesday, the yield for two-year U.S. Treasury bonds rose by 2 basis points to 3.8106%. The 10-year yield rose 3 bps to 4.3214% after being little changed overnight.

The dollar held onto its small overnight gains. The euro remained steady at $1.17 after losing 0.3% overnight. It was just above the 10-day low of $1.1691.

The risk-sensitive?Australian Dollar fell 0.2% to $0.7147.

Markets are remarkably good at 'looking through risk. This may continue. The list of risks continues to grow as solutions remain elusive, said Laura Cooper. Global investment strategist for asset manager Nuveen.

"The dissonance can't last forever... At some stage, what's being ignored may become the only thing that matters." (Editing by Kim Coghill & Shri Navaratnam).

(source: Reuters)