* Brent crude extends gains above $85 as Trump threatens 20%
fee on cargo shipping
* MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan volatile, driven by Korean
stocks
* Hawkish comments from Fed's Waller lift odds of July rate
hike
By Gregor Stuart Hunter
SINGAPORE, July 14 (Reuters) - Stocks swung between gains
and losses and oil hit a one-month high in early Asian trading
on Tuesday after President Donald Trump said the U.S. was
reinstating its blockade of Iranian shipping in the Gulf and
would collect a 20% fee on cargo traversing the Strait of
Hormuz.
In a volatile start to the session, MSCI's broadest index of
Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4%, led
by a 2.2% gain for Korean shares. Japan's Nikkei 225
was up 0.2%, while S&P 500 e-mini futures nudged
0.1% lower.
Brent crude futures climbed 2.6% to $85.50 a barrel,
their highest since mid-June, as trading resumed in Asia.
Markets were also rattled by hawkish comments on Monday from
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, who said the U.S.
central bank may need to raise interest rates "in the near term"
if coming data show inflation continuing well above the 2%
target.
"While the risk had been building in the system over the
past week, markets reacted aggressively" to the latest headlines
from the Iran conflict, said Chris Weston, head of research at
Pepperstone Group Ltd in Melbourne.
"The prospect of tighter monetary policy into a potential
energy shock is rarely supportive for risk assets."
Overnight, stocks on Wall Street sold off and oil futures surged
more than 9% as conflict between the United States and Iran
re-ignited, once again throttling the flow of goods through the
Strait of Hormuz. The S&P 500 closed 0.8% lower and the
Nasdaq Composite fell 1.6%.
U.S. CPI data is due for release later on Tuesday, followed by
comments from Fed Chair Warsh, who will deliver the central
bank's semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress.
Fed funds futures are pricing in an implied 43.3%
probability of a 25-basis-point hike at the U.S. central bank's
next two-day meeting on July 28-29, compared to a 34.2% chance
on Friday, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury bond was up 2.2 basis
points at 4.6297%.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's
strength against a basket of six currencies, held at 101.29,
trading around its highest levels of the month. Gold was
down 0.1% at $3,997.27.
In Seoul, stocks moved between negative and positive territory
on Tuesday as shares in SK Hynix ( SKHY ) veered between
gains and losses, falling as much as 4.7% in the first few
minutes of trading before rallying to trade up to 4.6% higher.
The volatility for the memory chipmaker comes after a dramatic
plunge a day earlier following its Nasdaq debut last week.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin was up 0.3% at
$62,318.43 while ether moved 0.7% higher to $1,777.63.
(Reporting by Gregor Stuart Hunter; Editing by Muralikumar
Anantharaman)