Oil tops $92, Asian stocks fall after new US strikes on Iran
Why it matters: traders now await US inflation data, with markets pricing in a December Fed rate hike as energy costs rise.
Oil prices rose and Asian stocks fell Wednesday after the United States launched fresh strikes on Iran following the reported downing of a US Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude climbed 0.9% to $92.29 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate rose 0.8% to $88.97. MSCI’s broadest Asia-Pacific index outside Japan fell 0.6%, while Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.9% and South Korea’s KOSPI dropped 2%. Investors were also bracing for US consumer inflation data later in the day. A Reuters survey of economists forecast annual CPI at 4.2% in May, which would be the highest since April 2023 and could reinforce expectations for a Federal Reserve rate increase in December.