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GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian stocks drop as oil rises after Trump's Hormuz levy threat
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GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian stocks drop as oil rises after Trump's Hormuz levy threat
Jul 13, 2026 8:58 PM

* Brent extends gains as Trump threatens 20% fee on cargo

shipping

* Asian stocks volatile, Taiwan shares fall to one-month low

* Hawkish comments from Fed's Waller lift odds of July rate

hike

(Adds investor quote in paragraph 13, updates prices

throughout)

By Gregor Stuart Hunter

SINGAPORE, July 14 (Reuters) - Stocks fell and oil hit a

one-month high in 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.

Following a volatile start to the session, MSCI's broadest index

of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down

1.7%, led by declines for shares in Taiwan and South

Korea, which at their lowest point exceeded 3% and 5%,

respectively. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.8%, while S&P

500 e-mini futures eased 0.3%.

Chinese stocks fell by less than the regional benchmark, with

the CSI 300 0.4% lower after export and import data

for June released on Tuesday beat economists' expectations.

Brent crude futures climbed 1.7% to $84.72 a barrel,

after earlier hitting their highest since mid-June at $85.64.

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 data shows inflation continuing well above the 2% target.

U.S. CPI data is due for release later on Tuesday, followed

by comments from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, who will deliver the

central bank's semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress.

"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 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 the conflict between the U.S. 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%.

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 1.6 basis

points at 4.624%.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's

strength against a basket of six currencies, nudged 0.1% lower

to 101.18, trading around its highest levels of the month. Gold

was up 0.3% at $4,012.37.

"The risk to Asian markets from the re-escalation in

U.S.-Iran tensions runs mainly through the impact of higher

energy prices on currencies and policy interest rates," said

Eastspring Investments' chief investment officer Vis Nayar in a

note. "Persistently higher oil prices would increase the risk

that the U.S. Federal Reserve would hike the Fed funds rate

later this year."

In Taipei, the Taiwanese benchmark fell to a one-month low,

leading regional declines.

In Seoul, stocks moved between negative and positive territory

as shares in SK Hynix ( SKHY ) veered between gains and

losses, falling as much as 5.6% after an earlier rally. The

volatility for the memory chipmaker comes after a dramatic

plunge a day earlier following its Nasdaq debut last week.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin was 0.4% higher at

$62,415.22 while ether was up 0.7% at $1,778.30.

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