A man walks in front of an electronic screen displaying Japan’s Nikkei stock prices quotation board inside a conference hall in Tokyo, Japan, April 27, 2026. REUTERS
TOKYO, Sept 9 (Reuters) – Brent crude rallied towards $100 per barrel on Wednesday, keeping the mood in Asian stock markets subdued, as attacks intensified in the Middle East, stoking inflation worries ahead of the release of closely watched U.S. consumer price data.
The yen strengthened towards the nearly seven-month high touched against the dollar on Tuesday as traders exited short positions in the Japanese currency amid expectations for faster Bank of Japan interest rate hikes and a potential rush of repatriation of Japanese capital.
The euro edged higher ahead of the European Central Bank’s policy decision on Thursday, with markets widely expecting a hike amid inflationary pressures from the Iran war.
Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen launched strikes on several Saudi cities on Tuesday, further embroiling a U.S. ally in the conflict, while U.S. forces hit multiple Iranian oil tankers and Iran struck a U.S. base in Jordan.
Oil prices jumped for a fourth straight session on Wednesday, gaining more than $1 in early trade.
Brent crude futures rose $1.57 to $99.49 a barrel, the highest level since late June. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $94.63 a barrel, up $1.60.
Stocks in Sydney slipped around 0.3%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.6% and mainland Chinese blue chips edged up 0.2%.
A rebound in chip and AI stocks helped some other regional benchmarks though, with Japan’s Nikkei up 0.6% following Tuesday’s 1.7% tumble. South Korea’s KOSPI jumped 1.6% and Taiwan’s TAIEX rose 0.6%.
Japanese cable makers surged after Verizon and Corning signed a deal on high-density optical fibre.
Overnight, the Philadelphia SE semiconductor index jumped 1.3%, despite declines on Wall Street’s three main indexes.
U.S. S&P 500 futures added 0.1%, after the cash index sank 0.6% on Tuesday.
“Across several of the major macro markets, we see indecision in the price action — tight ranges and a general holding/consolidation pattern,” Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone, wrote in a client note.
