Asia shares weaker, oil up as investors weigh Saudi-Houthi escalation
In Asian trading, US crude ticked up 0.9% to US$90.2 a barrel.
Asian markets showed a slight decline on October 7, with investor confidence wavering, while oil prices climbed due to a storm threat in the Gulf of Mexico and escalating Saudi-Houthi tensions. The MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index, excluding Japan, dropped 0.5%, led by Hong Kong and Singapore after US stocks closed higher. The S&P 500 hit a record high on October 6, up about 0.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.4%, also an all-time high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%. US crude prices increased by 0.9% to $90.2 a barrel, while Brent crude rose 1% to $101.58 per barrel. Tankers moved around 12 million barrels of crude oil and 2 million barrels of refined products from the Middle East in the past week, according to Vitol's CEO, Russell Hardy. US equities showed signs of losing momentum as global bond yields rose.
French bond futures fell in Asia, retracing some of the previous session's gains, as Marine Le Pen pledged budget cuts. The euro slipped 0.3% to $1.1229, and the US 10-year Treasury bond yield rose 3.8 basis points to 5.307%. Australian shares fell 0.1%, and Japan's Nikkei stock index declined 0.8%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.5%, while China's markets were closed for a holiday.
Indian stocks slipped 0.5% due to the Reserve Bank of India raising interest rates for the first time in nearly four years. The dollar index rose 0.1% to 102.06, and traders lowered expectations of a Federal Reserve rate increase in October. Gold prices fell 0.6% to $4,137.29 per ounce.
Written by urgent.news from Straits Times Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
