By Wayne Cole<\/p>\n
SYDNEY, March 23 (Reuters) \u2013 Share markets slid in Asia on Monday while U.S. bond yields hit eight-month peaks as the United States and Iran traded escalating threats and Israel planned for \u201cweeks\u201d more fighting, sending oil prices on another roller-coaster ride.<\/p>\n
Iran said on Sunday it would strike the energy and water systems of \u200bits Gulf neighbours if U.S. President Donald Trump followed through with a threat to hit Iran\u2019s electricity grid \u200cin 48 hours, extinguishing any hope of an early end to the war, now in its fourth week.<\/p>\n
Trump warned Iran had 48 hours to open the vital Strait of Hormuz, which is effectively closed for most vessels with little prospect of naval protection for shipping.<\/p>\n
Japan\u2019s Nikkei slid 3.9%, bringing losses for March so far to over 13%. South Korea\u2019s market shed 4.5%, making a 12% drop for the month. MSCI\u2019s broadest index of Asia-Pacific \u200cshares outside \u200bJapan\u00a0fell 1.2%.<\/p>\n
Oil prices were again choppy with early gains quickly fizzling out, leaving \u2060Brent down 0.2% at $111.90 a barrel, but \u2060still up 55% on the month so far. U.S. crude was near flat at $98.35. [O\/R]<\/p>\n
\u201cThe war could still go on for many weeks yet and see oil prices rise say to $150 a barrel,\u201d said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at fund manager AMP. \u201cAnd the steady destruction of energy infrastructure means it will take longer to get supply back to \u200bnormal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also worth noting that past oil shocks unfolded over many months in terms of the rise in oil prices as the full impact became clearer \u2013 it was over about 4 months in 1973 and a year in 1979.\u201d<\/p>\n
Analysts at HSBC \u2060noted Singapore jet fuel was up 175% this year to a multi-decade \u2060high, while Asian liquefied natural gas had climbed 130%. Bunker fuel used in shipping had blown \u200bout, raising the cost of transporting goods, while surging fertiliser prices will make food more expensive.<\/p>\n
SAY GOODBYE TO RATE CUTS<\/p>\n
For Europe, EUROSTOXX \u200b50 futures and DAX futures both slid 1.2%. On Wall Street, S&P 500 futures dipped 0.1%, while \u200cNasdaq futures lost 0.2%.<\/p>\n
The inflationary pulse from energy has seen markets abandon hopes for further monetary easing globally and swing to pricing in rate hikes across most developed nations.<\/p>\n
Futures have wiped out expectations for 50 basis points of easing from the Federal Reserve this year, with even a small chance the next move could be up.<\/p>\n
The hawkish sea change has hammered bonds and sent yields \u2060climbing, adding to borrowing costs for many governments already struggling with deficits and debt.<\/p>\n
The prospect of higher costs and softer consumer demand has clouded the outlook for corporate profits, while the jump in yields made equity valuations look ever more stretched.<\/p>\n
The energy shock, \u2060combined with pressure on fiscal budgets from \u200chigher defence spending, saw double-digit increases in bond yields globally last week.<\/p>\n
Ten-year U.S. Treasury yields \u2060were at an eight-month top of 4.4110%, having climbed a steep 44 basis points since \u200bthe war \u200cbegan.<\/p>\n
The heightened volatility in markets has tended to benefit the U.S. dollar as a \u200bstore of liquidity. \u2060The U.S. is also a net energy exporter, giving it a relative advantage over Europe and much of Asia, which are net importers.<\/p>\n
The euro was a shade lower at $1.1555, but some way from major supports at $1.1409 and $1.1392.<\/p>\n
The dollar was flat versus the yen at 159.15, just off a 20-month top of 159.88, with investors wary in case a break of 160.00 triggers intervention from Japan.<\/p>\n
In commodity markets, gold was 0.4% firmer at $4,511 an ounce, having lost ground last week as investors wager on higher interest rates globally. [GOL\/]<\/p>\n
(Reporting by \u200bWayne Cole; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Wayne Cole SYDNEY, March 23 (Reuters) \u2013 Share markets slid in Asia on Monday while U.S. bond…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-539614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}