* Yen climbs as intervention speculation swirls

* Trump calls joint currency operation a sign of friendship

* Oil prices drop after Trump says Iran talks to happen on

Monday

(Updates to Asia morning)

By Ankur Banerjee

SINGAPORE, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Oil prices skidded and stocks

wobbled on Monday as hopes of a peace deal in the Middle East

grew, while the yen jumped suddenly again after the U.S. and

Japan confirmed joint intervention to prop up the frail

currency.

Brent crude futures sank more than 4% to $83.88

after U.S. President Donald Trump said talks with Iran will

happen on Monday. He had earlier called off an imminent attack

on Iran to reach a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and

resolve the impasse over Tehran's nuclear capabilities.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.5% while Nasdaq futures

gained 0.8%. European futures were 0.7% higher.

Asian stocks, though, struggled at the start of the week

after a turbulent July that saw wild swings due to worries over

the AI trade as investors fretted about the massive capital

spending and whether it will provide returns quickly enough.

Japan's Nikkei dipped nearly 2%, while South Korea's

KOSPI slid over 4%. MSCI's broadest index of

Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down about

1%.

YEN BEARS COWER AFTER JOINT INTERVENTION

The Japanese yen firmed 0.5% to 156.47 per U.S.

dollar after a sudden move earlier in the day put traders on

alert for another bout of intervention.

Japan and the U.S. conducted coordinated yen-buying

intervention and will not hesitate to take further action,

Japan's finance ministry said on Monday, confirming a rare

bilateral action to halt the yen's slide to fresh 40-year lows.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said the United

States would consider increasing in coming months the size of

the Federal Reserve's repurchase facility providing temporary

dollar liquidity, calling the tool an "important backstop".

"Bessent's comments arguably carry more weight than the

intervention itself," said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst

at StoneX. "It feels like a safe bet that the Japanese yen has

troughed for the year. The words 'joint intervention' carries a

lot of weight in these markets and is a term rarely used."

Preceding the announcement on the joint action, Trump said

on Sunday the United States was helping Japan to prop up the yen

as a sign of friendship and to help the world economy.

"They have a weakening yen, and they wanted a little bit of

help. And we're always there for Japan," Trump said.

Tokyo's solo intervention conducted between late April and

early May caused only a brief yen rebound, while a rate hike in

June by the Bank of Japan provided little boost, underscoring

the challenge facing policymakers amid rising oil prices and a

wide interest rate differential against other major economies.

The yen had been rooted near 40-year lows of 163.99 per U.S.

dollar in recent weeks before the latest bout of interventions,

with net short positions on the yen of roughly $12.5 billion,

the highest in two years, data from a U.S. regulator showed.

"They are clearly determined to make a solid effort in

strengthening the yen as the billions of dollars they have spent

and joint moves have proved," said Nick Twidale, chief market

strategist at ATFX Global.

"However, there will need to be a change in the underlying

fundamentals for these moves to be sustainable. The market will

challenge these moves once they feel the action has been

completed."

The action and comments from Bessent repeating his calls for

further interest-rate hikes by the BOJ has put monetary policy

in focus.

The 2-year JGB yield, which is most sensitive

to near-term monetary policy moves, briefly hit 1.545% on

Monday, the highest since 1995, as markets priced in the chance

of an early rate hike.

Meanwhile, the drop in oil prices led U.S. Treasury yields

lower. The yield on the 30-year bond fell 3.7 basis

points to 5.238%, easing away from a 19-year high it touched

last week. It had jumped 372 basis points in July as investors

grappled with confusion around the Iran war and the policy

outlook for the Federal Reserve.

(Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; Editing by

Muralikumar Anantharaman)