HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asian shares dropped on Wednesday and U.S. benchmark yields rose to a three-and-a-half month top as investors stayed jittery about inflation with oil prices reaching new multi-year highs.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3%, while Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.69%.
Futures also pointed to a lower open in Europe with the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures off 0.72% in early trade and FTSE futures down 0.6%. U.S. stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis shed 0.4%.
U.S. crude rose 0.24% to $79.11 a barrel, its highest level since 2014. Brent crude gained 0.3% to $82.80 per barrel, having hit a three-year high in the previous session, driven by concerns about energy supply and a decision on Monday by the OPEC+ group of producers to stick to a planned output increase rather than raising it further.
