Stocks fall as Trump declares US-Iran ceasefire ‘over’

STOCKS fell, bond yields spiked and oil rallied after US President Donald Trump thrust geopolitical risks back into focus by declaring the ceasefire between the US and Iran to be over.

S&P 500 futures slid 1 per cent. Brent advanced 6.3 per cent towards US$79 a barrel. Trump declared the ceasefire “a waste of time” after the US launched strikes against Iran and revoked a waiver that allowed the sale of Iranian oil.

The actions were taken in response to recent attacks on ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump’s declaration “marks the most serious rupture yet in an agreement that has been fraying for weeks”, said Violeta Todorova, senior research analyst at Leverage Shares.

“Markets had been treating the June memorandum of understanding as a durable de-escalation. That complacency now looks fragile.”

Bonds tumbled in Europe as traders added to wagers that central banks will have little choice but to raise interest rates this year.

The yield on 10-year gilts jumped 10 basis points to 4.95 per cent, the highest level in nearly a month. Treasuries extended the previous session’s sell-off, with two-year yields rising three basis points to 4.22 per cent. The US dollar edged 0.1 per cent higher.

In South Korea, the Kospi extended losses since last month’s high to 20 per cent.

This year’s best-performing major benchmark has been lashed by volatility amid a rotation in the artificial intelligence trade, with investors shifting out of semiconductors in search of more attractive tech valuations.

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Alibaba jumped 12 per cent in Hong Kong.

“Overlapping negative news flow is pushing markets down now, and with no major earnings coming out in the next few days to change that trend, it seems there will be little respite for markets,” said Michael Field, chief equity strategist at Morningstar.

“It takes a much larger move in oil to overwhelm other drivers of equity performance. The escalation in US-Iran tensions represents a downside risk, but without a much larger increase in commodity prices it is unlikely to have a material impact on equity markets,” said Skylar Montgomery Koning, macro strategist at Bloomberg.

Among the main market moves, the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 1.8 per cent as at 10.09 am London time.

S&P 500 futures fell 1 per cent, the Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 1.5 per cent and the futures of the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 1.2 per cent.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 1 per cent and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index shed 0.8 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1 per cent while the euro was little changed at US$1.1402. The Japanese yen fell 0.2 per cent to 162.46 per US dollar and the offshore yuan was little changed at 6.8055 per US dollar.

Brent crude rose 6.2 per cent to US$78.79 a barrel and spot gold fell 1.4 per cent to US$4,050.59 an ounce. BLOOMBERG