Oil prices rose for a third day running on Wednesday and the dollar was on the brink of breaking above 160 yen as fresh hostilities flared in the Gulf after US-Iran peace talks stalled.US crude futures jumped around 2 percent to US$95.40 a barrel. The dollar hit 160 yen, then paused as traders became wary of potential Japanese intervention around that level.
S&P 500 futures dipped, although the AI bull run pushed on in Asia, where stock indexes climbed to record highs in Taiwan and Japan. South Korean markets were closed.
US Central Command said Iran fired missiles at Kuwait and Bahrain, which were thwarted or failed, prompting US forces hit back at Iran's Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said it had attacked the US Fifth Fleet headquarters. Iran and the United States said last week that they had reached a tentative deal to halt the war, but the two sides have yet to sign off on any agreement.
"Last week [...] trajectory was towards some sort of MOU and markets were high on the belief that that was coming," said Chris Weston, head of research at broker Pepperstone in Melbourne.
