SINGAPORE (REUTERS)

Oil prices rose for a third day running on Wednesday and the dollar was on the brink of breaking the 160 yen barrier.

Brent crude futures rose 1% to $94.74 a barrel. The dollar hit 160 yen, then paused as traders became wary of potential Japanese intervention around that level.

S&P 500 futures were flat and European futures slipped 0.1%, although the AI bull run ⁠pushed on unimpeded in Asia, where stock indexes climbed to record highs in Japan. South Korean markets were ​closed.

The US military said Iranian missile attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait and other regional targets were either thwarted ​or failed as diplomacy ‌between Washington and Tehran made little headway.

Iran and the United ⁠States said ​last week that they had reached a tentative deal to halt the war, but the two sides have yet to sign off on anything.

Cryptocurrencies tumbled, weighed by selling at big bitcoin holder Strategy and talk that some investors were selling to free up cash for next week's SpaceX listing.
Bitcoin is down nearly 10% ​in three sessions and hit a two-month low of $66,123 on Wednesday.

SpaceX plans to raise $75 billion in a blockbuster initial public offering, according to a source familiar with the matter.

In the tech space, the artificial intelligence theme seems impervious to war worries and Wall Street stock indexes eked small gains on Tuesday, led by AI.

Shares in Marvell Technology soared 32.5% to a record high after Nvidia boss Jensen Huang called the chipmaker the next trillion dollar ‌company.

AI gains have lifted tech investor SoftBank above Toyota as ​Japan's most valuable company and on Wednesday memory manufacturer Kioxia briefly pushed the carmaker, which topped the list for decades, into third place.

US Labour Data
Bonds, which had rallied through Tuesday, were steady on Wednesday with the benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield at 4.46%.

Overnight data showed US job openings increased by the most ​in five years in April, pointing to a resilient ‌job ⁠market and offering little evidence ‌the economy needs lower rates.

The US services ISM and private payrolls ‌figures are due later on Wednesday, ahead of labour market data on Friday.

"In our view, the pickup in momentum across the US economy over early 2026 could see the ⁠US jobs report exceed downbeat consensus forecasts," Peter Dragicevich, Asia-Pacific currency strategist at payments firm Corpay, said.

"If realised, we think ​this may bolster the view the US Fed could raise interest rates down the track, which in turn might see the USD strengthen."

Markets, which had expected rate cuts before the Iran war, have priced in about 18 basis points of US rate increases this year. A hike in Europe next week is all but fully priced in following data showing inflation accelerated further last month, while traders see about a 75% chance of a June ​rise in Japan.

Foreign exchange markets were broadly steady, with the euro at $1.1627 and the dollar just ​shy of 160 yen at 159.86.