Hong Kong (AFP) – Asian stock markets sank on Tuesday, US Treasury yields hit a 19-year high, and oil prices extended gains as rising Middle East tensions fueled inflation fears, while investors bet on a Federal Reserve interest rate hike this week.
With the crisis in the Middle East showing few signs of abating and Yemen’s Houthi rebels taking control of a crucial outlet for shipping, crude has spiked this month to more than $100 a barrel, ramping up global inflation worries. Both main contracts climbed more than two percent on Tuesday. The Houthis, fighting the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government, seized control of Yemen’s Red Sea coast last week and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which has become vital as the wider US-Iran war chokes the Strait of Hormuz. Riyadh shut its East-West pipeline at the weekend following drone attacks by the Houthis.
The rally in crude prices was pared slightly on Monday when US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social: “The failing Nation of Iran wants to make a deal, quickly and badly. I will determine whether or not the U.S.A. will choose to engage – The concept of which we are open to.” The surge in energy costs—US diesel used in transport and agriculture hit $6.27 a gallon Tuesday—has ramped up pressure on central banks to temper a surge in inflation. The 10-year US Treasury yield hit 5.02 percent Tuesday, its highest level since 2007 just before the global financial crisis. With the European Central Bank lifting rates last week, focus is now on the Fed, with traders pricing a more than 90 percent chance that it will also hike.
Asia extended the retreat after a selloff on Wall Street’s three main indexes. Seoul, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Wellington, Taipei, Mumbai, Bangkok, and Manila all dropped, while Tokyo was marginally lower. London, Paris, and Frankfurt continued the selling.
A small bounce in tech firms at the start of the day petered out following Monday’s losses that came in response to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei advocating for a coordinated slowdown of AI development to better understand the risks. The comments got support from other industry leaders, including Elon Musk and OpenAI’s Sam Altman. The latest AI upheaval comes after a healthy run-up in August following July’s rout, which had been fueled by worries about returns on the vast sums invested in the sector as well as extended valuations.
Analysts said it forced traders to reassess their outlook for the speed of development in the industry following years of breakneck growth. “Hedge funds had spent recent weeks climbing back aboard the technology trade, with positioning rebuilding toward levels seen before the summer washout,” said Stephen Innes at Quintex Intel. “Hyperscalers had attracted much of that buying, while the supply chain remained one of the cleanest expressions of the belief that the AI capex machine would keep running at full throttle,” he added. “That works beautifully as long as everyone agrees the accelerator stays pinned to the floor. It becomes more complicated when the top dogs running the biggest AI engines start discussing speed governors.”
Amodei’s remarks sent shudders through chipmakers particularly, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbling 5.9 percent—its biggest drop in more than two months, according to Bloomberg. Fiona Cincotta at FOREX.com said: “There are some questions surrounding the motive behind such announcements, with some investors suggesting that it could be a way to stifle smaller competitors.” Still, the market wasn’t thinking twice. Losses in tech stocks are setting the tone for markets ahead of a potential Fed rate hike this week.
**Key figures at around 0810 GMT:**
– West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.3 percent at $103.76 per barrel
– Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.3 percent at $108.06 per barrel
– Tokyo – Nikkei 225: FLAT at 63,484.10 (close)
– Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.0 percent at 24,667.24 (close)
– Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 3,864.28 (close)
– London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8 percent at 10,611.29
– Dollar/yen: UP at 154.89 yen from 154.34 yen on Monday
– Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1539 from $1.1547
– Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3476 from $1.3500
– Euro/pound: UP at 85.63 pence from 85.53 pence
– New York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 52,421.20 (close)
© 2024 AFP
