Asian stocks fall as US-Iran tensions push Brent above $100
MSCI's Asia-Pacific gauge slips 0.4% and Japan's Topix drops 0.9% as oil holds its Thursday jump
Published
Asian stocks fell on Thursday as renewed tension between the US and Iran pushed oil prices higher and revived worries about inflation. MSCI's Asia-Pacific equity gauge slipped 0.4% and Japan's Topix dropped 0.9%.
Brent crude rose a further 0.2%, building on a 4% jump that had already lifted it above $100 a barrel. The move followed a tanker strike in the Strait of Hormuz that Iran blames on UAE-linked vessels. Iran's Ports and Maritime Organisation, PGSA, said tankers had been struck in the strait, with the last three tied to the UAE.
The US is reinforcing its forces near the strait after President Trump rejected an Iranian ceasefire offer. Washington plans to deploy a third aircraft-carrier strike group and as many as 10,000 additional troops to the region. The buildup comes after Iran's deadline for a US reply on reopening the Strait of Hormuz passed without an answer.
The standoff has settled into a pattern in which Brent trades roughly between $100 and $108, rising on escalation headlines and falling back once talks resume or Gulf flows prove resilient. Weeks of Qatari-mediated proposals, slipping deadlines and contradictory US statements have left the situation unresolved rather than worse, and Saudi and Iraqi export increases have offset much of Iran's lost output, undercutting the case for a severe supply shock. The inflation worry weighing on Asian equities reflects that same unresolved risk premium rather than any fresh escalation.