TOKYO: Asian stocks came under pressure on Thursday as the threat of imminent U.S. military action in Syria rattled investors and sent oil prices to their highest levels since late 2014 on concerns about supply.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.05 percent in early trade while Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.4 percent.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 lost 0.55 percent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.36 percent while energy shares gained more than 1 percent on rising oil prices.
Trump declared that missiles “will be coming” in Syria, taunting Russia for supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after a suspected chemical attack on rebels. Damascus and Moscow have denied any responsibility.
His comments raised the prospect of direct conflict over Syria for the first time between the two world powers backing opposing sides in the seven-year-old civil war, which has also escalated a rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The tension intensified in another front as Saudi Arabia said its air defense forces intercepted three ballistic missiles fired at Riyadh and other cities by Yemen’s Houthis.
Fears of military conflicts in the Middle East have boosted oil prices as well as safe-haven assets such as gold.
Both U.S. crude and global benchmark Brent traded at the highest levels since 2014 as geopolitical concerns overshadowed a surprise buildup in U.S. crude inventories.
U.S. crude futures traded at $66.79 a barrel, having risen 7.6 percent so far this week. They have traded as high as $67.45 on Wednesday, a level last seen in December 2014.
Brent traded at $71.93 a barrel, having touched a high of $73.09 on Wednesday.
Gold stood at $1,353.10 per ounce, having climbed to $1,365.30. A break above its Jan. 25 high of $1,365.8 would take the yellow metal to a high last seen in August 2016.
