Today's Edition
LONDON/SINGAPORE (REUTERS)
Oil prices surged and global equity and bond markets recoiled again on Thursday after US President Donald Trump dashed hopes of a quick resolution to the Middle East war.
Brent crude jumped more than 7% to trade near $108 a barrel after Trump said in a prime-time address that the US would hit Iran in the coming weeks.
Although he also said the US campaign was nearing an end, the renewed rhetoric left Europe's main bourses and Wall Street futures down at least 1% after Asian stocks gave back a large chunk of the previous day's gains overnight.
Government bond yields jumped again on expectations that an incoming inflation spike would force central banks to raise interest rates, or at least keep them on hold.
The US dollar, the haven of choice during the turmoil, rose against most currencies, pushing the euro down 0.5% to $1.1526 and sterling down 0.8% to just under $1.32.
Wall Street futures were pointing 1.3% lower. Asian stocks were clobbered, with Japan's Nikkei closing down 2.4% and South Korea's Kospi index sliding 4.7%. Both indexes are heavily weighted towards energy-intensive technology manufacturers.
Ten-year US Treasury yields - a major driver of global borrowing costs - climbed 5 basis points to 4.376%. Benchmark European yields were up around 3 bps, though still on track for their first weekly drop since the start of the war.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six other major currencies, was 0.5% higher at 100.05 after dropping nearly 1% in the previous two days on optimism the war might end soon. It is up almost 2% for the year.
There were also growing signs of urgency in emerging oil-importing markets.
India's central bank moved to ban trading of so-called non-deliverable forwards on Thursday after the rupee's slide to record lows. The move sent the currency up 2%., although analysts questioned how long the rebound would last.
With Brent futures up 7.5% to $108.70 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate up $6.40 to $106.52, it was the nearly 90% leap in oil prices so far this year that remained the main focus.
