As US-Iran Tensions Ease, Oil Falls & Bonds Rise – Asia Market Wrap

Oil fell and bonds gained with stocks and gold as the US and Iran refrained from further strikes, triggering a relief rally across markets. The Dollar weakened.

Brent fell as much as 7.4% to below $90 a barrel as the US paused an almost two-week run of strikes against Iran, before paring about half its losses. The global benchmark has still risen more than 50% this year after disruptions to supplies from the Middle East. Treasuries advanced, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note falling 5 bps to 4.63%. European bond futures also rose along with government debt across Asia Pacific as the pullback in oil prices eased concern about inflation.

The Dollar, the haven of choice during the Middle East conflict, weakened against all of its Group-of-10 peers, while gold climbed about 1% to near $4,100 an ounce. The Yen strengthened to about 163.55 per Dollar.

MSCI’s Asia Pacific share index climbed 0.5%, while futures contracts for the Nasdaq 100 rose 1.2%, indicating a rebound after a selloff in chip stocks late last week. European equities were also primed to advance. Chinese chipmaker CXMT was the standout in Asia, jumping as much as 535% on its Shanghai debut, making it China’s largest onshore-listed company as investors flock to beneficiaries of the AI boom – valued at about 3.3 trillion yuan ($487 billion) at the opening price.

In Asia, the Singapore Dollar strengthened against the US currency after officials further tightened monetary policy, while the Indonesian Rupiah dropped with the nation’s bonds and stocks after Bank Indonesia Governor Warjiyo unexpectedly resigned.