By Kevin Buckland
TOKYO (Reuters) – Asia stocks sank on Wednesday, catching up with the sell-off on Wall Street after Iran’s ballistic missile strike on Israel provoked fears of a wider regional conflict, while crude oil pushed higher on the risk of supply disruptions.
Investors flocked to safer assets, pushing U.S. Treasury bond yields down in Asian time, while gold hovered near an all-time high.
The safe-haven dollar traded close to its strongest in three weeks versus the euro. Macroeconomics also buoyed the dollar, with a resilient U.S. job market arguing for a smaller Federal Reserve interest-rate cut in November, and euro zone inflation trends backing a European Central Bank easing this month.
Japan’s Nikkei slumped 1.5% as of 0022 GMT, while South Korea’s KOSPI dropped 1.3% and Australia’s benchmark lost 0.3%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares slipped about 0.5%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng had yet to open after a holiday on Tuesday. Mainland Chinese markets are shut for the week-long Golden Week holiday. Trading in Taiwan was suspended due to a typhoon.
U.S. S&P 500 stock index futures weakened 0.16%, after the cash index lost 0.9% overnight.
“In the chain of potential market volatility shocks, geopolitics will typically trump economics, corporate earnings, or a central bank response – largely because most market players are poor at pricing risk around these events,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone.
“While these events typically reconcile in a market positive fashion, the tail risk it can throw up is clearly significant,” Weston said. “The situation remains fluid, and the slightest calming or increased aggression in the rhetoric from Israel or Iran could result in a sizeable impact on sentiment in markets.”
Iran said early on Wednesday that its missile attack on Israel was finished barring further provocation, although Israel and the U.S. promised retaliation.
Brent crude futures gained more than 1% to $74.33 per barrel, extending the 2.5% advance from Tuesday. U.S. WTI futures gained 1.3% to $70.73 per barrel, after Tuesday’s 2.4% rally.
Gold eased 0.16% to $2,658.63 per ounce, following a more than 1% jump in the previous session that brought it close to last month’s record high at $2,685.42.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields ticked down 1.5 basis points (bps) to 3.7278%.
The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency versus the euro and five other major rivals, was steady at 101.21 after pushing as high as 101.39 on Tuesday for the first time since Sept. 19.
Europe’s shared currency was little changed at $1.1070 following a 0.6% drop in the previous session, when it dipped to $1.1046 for the first time since Sept. 12.
Euro area data on Tuesday showed inflation fell below the ECB’s 2% target last month, bolstering bets for a quarter-point rate cut on Oct. 17.
Meanwhile, U.S. figures overnight showed a solid economy, a day after Fed Chair Jerome Powell pushed back against the likelihood of another 50 basis point rate cut when the U.S. central bank meets next month.
Job openings unexpectedly increased in August after two straight monthly decreases, but hiring was soft and consistent with a slowing labour market.
Private payrolls data is due later on Wednesday, ahead of potentially crucial monthly non-farm payrolls numbers on Friday.
U.S. politics will also be in focus, as Democrat Tim Walz and Republican JD Vance go head to head in a vice-presidential debate on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)