TOKYO – Brent crude rallied towards US$100 per barrel on Sept 9, 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 US consumer price data.The yen strengthened towards the nearly seven-month high touched against the dollar on Sept 8 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 Sept 10, 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 Sept 8, further embroiling a US ally in the conflict, while US forces hit multiple Iranian oil tankers and Iran struck a US base in Jordan.Oil prices jumped for a fourth straight session on Sept 9, gaining more than US$1 in early trade.Brent crude futures rose US$1.57 to US$99.49 a barrel, the highest level since late June. US West Texas Intermediate crude was at US$94.63 a barrel, up US$1.60.Stocks in Sydney slipped around 0.3 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.6 per cent and mainland Chinese blue chips edged up 0.2 per cent.A rebound in chip and AI stocks helped some other regional benchmarks though, with Japan’s Nikkei up 0.6 per cent following the 1.7 per cent tumble on Sept 8. South Korea’s KOSPI jumped 1.6 per cent and Taiwan’s TAIEX rose 0.6 per cent.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 per cent, despite declines on Wall Street’s three main indexes.US S&P 500 futures added 0.1 per cent, after the cash index sank 0.6 per cent on Sept 8.“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.Brent crude is currently “one of the clearest real-time signals for sentiment” for the overall market, and $100 “now feels like a highly achievable level,” he said.Inflation worries have weighed on global equities in recent weeks and lifted bond yields as traders price higher odds for central bank tightening.US CPI data is due on Sept 11.Traders assign close to even odds for a quarter-point hike or a hold from the US Federal Reserve on Sept 16, while being all but certain of a quarter-point increase from the BOJ two days later.The yen strengthened around 0.2 per cent to 153.66 per dollar, edging back towards its high of 152.89 from the previous session. It had surged around 4 per cent over the last five sessions, with hawkish comments from BOJ officials ostensibly initiating a move that then snowballed as breaks of key levels triggered additional buying, market players said.The ECB is all but certain to raise euro zone rates by a quarter point on Sept 10.The euro added 0.1 per cent to US$1.1629, putting it in the middle of its tight range of the past three weeks.Sterling was little changed at US$1.3545, with the Bank of England due to announce its latest policy decision on Sept 17, with economists predicting the key rate will be on hold for the remainder of 2026.The Aussie rose 0.1 per cent to US$0.7222.Bitcoin drifted higher to change hands at US$78,680.60.Gold gained 0.3 per cent to around US$4,368 an ounce. REUTERS