Asia report: Stocks lower as oil prices hit highest since May

(Sharecast News) - Asian stock markets finished mostly lower on Thursday as oil remained firmly above the $100-a-barrel mark and the ongoing Middle East conflict continued to weigh on investor sentiment.

The Nikkei outperformed, rising 0.2%, while the Hang Seng dropped 1.3%, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.4%, the STI slipped 0.7% and the KOSPI declined 0.3%.

"Global equity markets moved onto the defensive on Thursday as another leg higher in crude sharpened the market's inflation anxiety and tightened financial conditions across the curve," said Patrick Munnelly, partner of market strategy at Tickmill Group.

"Brent pushed above $101.90/bbl after Iranian officials signalled readiness for a prolonged escalation amid continuing Middle East naval tensions, putting energy risk firmly back in the driver's seat."

At 1042 BST at the time of writing, Brent had risen further to $102.69, up 1.5% on the day. It has not settled above this mark since the end of May.

Bond yields remained elevated across the globe, with the rate on a 10-year Japanese note up 3.2 basis points at 2.916% ahead of a Bank of Japan policy decision next week, with expectations continuing to rise that the central bank will hike rates.

According to a Reuters poll, 97% of economists surveyed now expect the BoJ to raise rates to 1.25% from the current 1.0% at its 18 September meeting, up from 57% in the previous poll in August.

In equity movements, Japanese tech stocks were mostly weaker, including Tokyo Electron, SoftBank and Ibiden, while banking peers Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho tracked bond yields higher.

Indian pump maker Shakti Pumps saw shares jump in Bombay after winning a large order from Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company for solar water pumps.

Oil stocks mostly rose across Asia, bolstered by a surging crude price, including ONGC, Oil India and CNOOC.