Asian shares experienced a significant plunge of over 2% as tensions rose in the Middle East, according to MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares. This was in response to reported Israeli missile attacks on Iranian sites, which also caused US stock futures to drop by 1.3%.
The escalation in hostilities has driven the bond yields to tumble, with US long-term Treasury yields seeing a decrease of 13.5 basis points. They are now sitting at 4.512%. As investors sought refuge in safe havens, the US dollar index and the yen witnessed increases of 0.14% and 0.4% against the dollar, respectively.
Amidst the turmoil, gold prices soared by 1.6%, reaching US$2,414.69. This rise has brought it closer to the all-time high recorded last week at US$2,431.29. Kyle Rodda, an analyst at Capital.com, attributed the market’s reaction to fears of an Israeli…
