2026-08-12T05:57:17+00:00
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Shafaq News
Oil and gold prices climbed while regional
shares edged nervously higher on Wednesday as geopolitical tensions ratcheted
up ahead of key U.S. inflation data.
The yen was mostly flat against the dollar,
having unwound much of its gains following rare intervention in currency
markets by Japan and the United States.
The U.S. and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis reported
separate attacks on shipping, while Asia was rattled by an early morning
missile launch by North Korea. Markets remained focused on U.S. consumer price
index data later in the session for signals of timing for a potential Federal
Reserve rate hike.
“Market sentiment
is lukewarm amidst lingering geopolitical risk and as market participants head
into U.S. CPI data,” Kyle Rodda, a senior financial market analyst at
Capital.com, wrote in a note.
“The lack of
substantial news or progress
in talks, with Iran doubling down on its commitment to govern the Strait of
Hormuz, is keeping the risk for oil prices
skewed to the upside and U.S. indices on hold,” he added.
U.S. crude rose 0.89%
to $83.94 a barrel, and Brent
advanced to $89.60 per barrel, up 0.78% on the day. Both benchmarks settled
more than $1 higher on Tuesday, marking their highest closes since July 31 and extending gains after jumping about 5% on
Monday.
Spot gold gained 0.46%
to $4,387.03 an ounce. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside
Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab was up 0.5%, while Japan’s benchmark Nikkei share gauge (.N225), opens new
tab traded flat as the market reopened after a holiday.
Four crew members of
an Egyptian-owned ship were killed in an attack by Houthis on Tuesday, Yemen’s
transport ministry said, while the U.S. military said it struck a container
ship attempting to sail toward an Iranian port. The fatalities would mark the first
from a Houthi strike on
shipping since the Iran war began on February 28.
The war shows no signs
of ending despite repeated claims from U.S. President Donald Trump of an imminent deal.
A North Korean
ballistic missile fired off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast came days ahead
of major joint military exercises by Seoul and Washington long denounced by Pyongyang. Meanwhile, Taiwan condemned planned
naval drills between China and an Indonesian warship off the island’s east
coast.
Wednesday’s CPI data
will not capture the most recent rise in energy costs, but it could still prove
instrumental in setting expectations for the Fed’s meeting next month, with
money markets showing an even chance of a hike .
Consumer prices are
expected to edge up 0.1% in July after falling 0.4% in June, according to a
Reuters poll. Annual CPI inflation is
forecast to slow to 3.4% from 3.5% a
month earlier.
“Everyone’s got their eyes on the CPI report,” Skye
Masters, head of markets research at National Australia Bank, said on a
podcast. “If you do see the print coming in at zero, I think you’ll
obviously see a reasonable rally in Treasuries
as the market unwinds expectations for the Fed tightening.”
Markets are also
increasingly pricing in an early rate
hike in Japan, putting
pressure on the nation’s shorter-dated bonds. The yield on the 5-year Japanese
government bonds rose to 2.1%, a record high, while the 2-year yield reached a
31-year peak of 1.63%.
The dollar index ,
which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.04% to
99.85. The euro was down 0.02% at $1.1538.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.03% against the greenback to 159.31 per dollar, remaining off last week’s
high of 155.20 after several
suspected rounds of intervention. Sterling weakened 0.01% to $1.3501.
In early European
trades, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures were down 0.15% at 6,563, German
DAX futures fell 0.12% at 26,444, and FTSE
futures lost 0.25% to stand at 10,825.
U.S. stock futures,
the S&P 500 e-minis , were up 0.03% at 7,750.
Only the headline is
edited by Shafaq News.