* Japan's Nikkei rallies 1.5%, South Korea turns 0.6% lower
* Wall St futures edge up, European stock futures up 1%
* Bonds take a beating, 10-year JGB yield hits 30-year high
(Updates prices before European open)
By Stella Qiu
SYDNEY, July 9 (Reuters) - Asian shares wobbled on Thursday
as a rally in semiconductors lost momentum, while oil prices
surged as a resumption of hostilities in the Gulf reignited
inflation fears and hammered bonds.
Oil prices rose for a third straight session as the U.S.
military completed another round of strikes against Iran.
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the interim agreement
with Iran to end the war was "over", although he later said he
did not expect a return to a full-fledged war, helping soothe
concerns.
Brent crude futures rose 1% to $78.85 a barrel and
were up 9% this week to cross above $80 a barrel for the first
time since June 22.
That knocked global bond markets and boosted bets that the
Federal Reserve will have to raise interest rates this year to
tame inflation, with Fed funds futures now implying 38 basis
points of policy tightening this year, back to where they were a
week ago.
Wall Street initially fell on Trump's comments but climbed
off session lows, with the Nasdaq eking out a small gain of
0.2%. Chip giant Nvidia ( NVDA ) rallied 3.6% after media
reports that China plans to allow its top AI firms to buy a
limited number of the company's H200 chips.
European bourses looked set for a higher open, with
pan-region stock futures up 1%. Wall Street futures
were about 0.2% higher.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
reversed earlier gains and were last off 0.5% as
the rally in chipmakers faltered, while Japan's Nikkei
climbed 1.3% to break a three-day losing streak.
South Korea's KOSPI rallied as much as 4% before
turning 1% lower as gains in Samsung and SK Hynix
faded.
"At this stage, the market still appears skewed towards the
view that the (Iran) conflict ultimately de-escalates, and
negotiations resume around the memorandum of understanding,"
said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone.
"Nevertheless, traders understand the need to remain
open-minded. The situation remains highly fluid, and conviction
around timing is exceptionally difficult."
Minutes released by the Fed showed concern about mounting
inflation among policymakers. A few participants said there was
already a case to raise borrowing costs, before ultimately
agreeing with their colleagues to hold rates steady last month.
The global bond rout deepened in Asia. The yield on 10-year
Japanese government bonds hit 2.9%, the highest
since 1996, while Australia's 10-year government bond yields
scaled a one-month peak of 4.933%.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields
climbed 1 basis point to 4.5772% on Thursday after rising 4 bps
overnight. They are up 10 bps so far this week.
The reaction in the currency markets was rather muted, with
the dollar failing to hold on to its yield support and last down
0.1% to 162.41 yen. That was not far from 40-year
peaks of 162.84 as speculators remain wary of Japanese
intervention.
The euro edged up 0.1% to $1.1426, while sterling
held at $1.3396, just below a three-week peak of $1.341.
Gold slipped 0.2% at $4,067 an ounce.