SINGAPORE, Aug 3 - Oil prices skidded, and stocks wobbled on Monday as hopes of peace in the Middle East grew, while the yen jumped suddenly after the United States (US) and Japan confirmed joint intervention to prop up the frail currency.
Brent crude futures sank more than six per cent to US$82.41 after US President Donald Trump said talks with Iran will happen on Monday. He had earlier called off an imminent attack on Iran to reach a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resolve the impasse over Tehran's nuclear capabilities.
S&P 500 futures rose 0.4 per cent while Nasdaq futures gained 0.6 per cent. But Japan's Nikkei dipped one per cent, and South Korea's KOSPI slid 3.6 per cent after a turbulent July in which it slumped 22 per cent.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down one per cent in early trading.
The Japanese yen rose more than one per cent to 155.39 per US dollar in a sudden move that put traders on alert for another bout of intervention.
Earlier today, the Japanese Finance Ministry said that Tokyo and Washington conducted coordinated yen-buying intervention and will not hesitate to take further action, confirming a rare bilateral action to halt the yen's slide to fresh 40-year lows.
Mizuho Bank strategist Masayuki Nakajima said the objective was likely not to reverse the broader dollar/yen trend, as structural forces remain broadly yen-negative, including persistent US-Japan interest-rate differentials.
"It is difficult to argue that the secular depreciation trend in the yen has fundamentally changed. In the near term, however, the momentum may shift in favour of yen appreciation, as the tone of recent US-Japan communication carries a pointed warning to speculative traders," he said.
On Sunday, ahead of the announcement, Trump said that the US was helping Japan prop up the yen as a sign of friendship and to support the world economy.
"They have a weakening yen, and they wanted a little bit of help. And we are always there for Japan," he said in response to a reporter's query about why the US is helping to support the yen.
ATFX Global chief market strategist Nick Twidale said that Trump's comments calling it a 'friendship trade' undermine the credibility of US participation.
"They are pushing against the fundamentals, so I expect the market to eventually correct the move once the intervention has finished, unless we do see a change in the underlying factors," he said.