Asian Stocks Fall as Oil Adds to Inflation Fears

Business and finance news from the Asia-Pacific. Asian stocks dropped, tracking losses on Wall Street, as surging oil prices stoked concern that inflation will accelerate. Brent crude held above $101 a barrel. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 1.3%, with benchmark gauges in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia all declining. The S&P 500 Index slid 0.5% on Wednesday, while the Nasdaq 100 Index dropped 0.3%, weighed down by losses in Nvidia Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc. Brent climbed as high as $101.94 before paring its gains, as Iran vowed it was prepared for a more intense war after hostilities flared across the Middle East. At the same time, the Treasury 10-year yield held near Wednesday's high of 4.85%, a level last seen in late 2023, after the US government's plan to buy up to $6 billion of longer-dated debt disappointed investors who had expected a larger increase. We speak to Lianting Tu, Bloomberg's Managing Editor for Asia Equities. For more analysis on the markets, Bloomberg's Avril Hong spoke to Eastspring Investments Portfolio Manager Christina Woon.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.