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Asian markets fall as US-Iran conflict lifts oil and bonds yields

Asian markets fall as US-Iran conflict lifts oil and bonds yields
Asian markets fall as US-Iran conflict lifts oil and bonds yields

After renewed U.S. Airstrikes on Iran, oil prices rose to a five week high. The U.S. Treasury yield also reached its highest level in nearly three years. This extended a global bond market selloff.

MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan fell 2%, as South Korea's KOSPI plunged almost 4% and the Nikkei was down 2.9%. S&P 500 futures fell 0.1%.

Brent crude futures continued to rise as trading resumed on the Asian continent, gaining 0.9%, to $95.45 per barrel, after U.S. airstrikes against Iran on Tuesday pushed prices up to a 5-week high.

Westpac analysts reported that "the threat of further disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz brought renewed anxiety about inflation. This drove a sell-off across major markets, and a rout?in global bonds markets."

The yield of the U.S. Treasury 10-year bond reached an intraday peak of 4.8122%. This is its highest level for almost three years. Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year Japanese Government Bond rose by 2 basis points, to 3.015%. It has continued its upward climb, after hitting a three-decades high earlier this week.

DBS analysts noted that "September started on a shaky footing as government bonds from developed markets continued to fall."

They said: "Prepare for a volatile next month as high yields cause anxiety across asset classes." If the bond crisis is not stopped, policymakers will probably need to take more aggressive measures in order to limit yields.

The kiwi was down 1% to $0.5834, after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised interest rates 25 basis points, or 2.75%. This was expected by the markets. However, the dovish language used by the central bank in its statement also weighed on it.

Capital Economics analysts noted that "the RBNZ raised rates as expected but moderated expectations of further tightening." The messaging was a little less hawkish.

The U.S. Dollar?Index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket six currencies, rose 0.1% to 99.79. This was its highest level since August 17.

Overnight, on Wall Street the S&P 500 fell 0.7% while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1% due to a rise in government bond yields.

Data from the Institute for Supply Management, released on Tuesday, showed that U.S. Manufacturing activity moderated during August due to a slowdown in new orders but still remained in an expansionary zone.

The Federal Reserve will likely raise interest rates in its next meeting, which is scheduled for two weeks from now. However, a rate hike is not certain.

Fed funds futures have a?implied probability of 67% that benchmark borrowing costs will increase by 25 basis points at the U.S. Central Bank's two-day conference ending on September 16 compared to 39.6% a week earlier, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

Gold fell 0.6% to $4,304.64 per ounce. Bitcoin dropped 0.1% to $77340.50, and ether declined 0.5% to $2,407.01.

(source: Reuters)