* Oil prices surge again, with Brent hitting $100 a

barrel

* Nikkei off 1.5%; Wall St, European futures in the red

* Bond yields climb, market pares back bets for Fed cuts

* Euro, yen under pressure, dollar shines

(Updates with oil prices crossing $100 a barrel)

By Stella Qiu

SYDNEY, March 12 (Reuters) - Shares in Asia fell broadly

on Thursday, as oil prices leapt 9% to above $100 a barrel on

reports of more ships hit in Gulf waters and the closure of oil

terminals - a jump that promises to fuel inflation and push

borrowing costs higher worldwide.

Investors took little comfort from the International Energy

Agency's plan to release 400 million barrels of oil from its

reserves, the largest such move in its history. As part of that,

the U.S. said it would release 172 million barrels of oil from

next week.

Both oil benchmarks were up 9%, with Brent crude futures

at $100.22 a barrel, extending a rise of more than 4%

overnight. U.S. crude futures were at $95.41 a barrel.

Shares slid, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific

shares outside Japan falling 1.6%, while the

Nikkei dropped 1.5%.

Chinese blue-chips lost 0.6% and Hong Kong's Hang

Seng index skidded 1.2%.

Both S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures fell

1%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures were down 1% and DAX futures

lost 1.1%.

Two fuel tankers in Iraqi waters had been struck by

explosive-laden Iranian boats, Iraqi security officials said

early on Thursday, while an Iraqi official told state media that

its oil ports "have completely stopped operations."

Bloomberg reported that Oman has evacuated all vessels from

its key oil export terminal at Mina Al Fahal as a precautionary

measure.

"Multiple tankers loaded with Iraqi crude are now reported

burning in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Basra, engulfed in

flames and leaking burning oil into the water," said Tony

Sycamore, analyst at IG.

"This appears to mark a direct and forceful Iranian response

to the IEA's overnight announcement of a massive strategic

reserve release aimed at cooling runaway prices."

Iran had earlier stepped up attacks on merchant ships in the

Strait of Hormuz, telling the world to get ready for oil at $200

a barrel. On Wednesday, three vessels were reported to have been

hit in Gulf waters as Iran's Revolutionary Guards said their

forces had fired on ships in the Gulf that had disobeyed their

orders.

Throwing more uncertainty into the air, U.S. President

Donald Trump on Wednesday declared the war on Iran has been won

but he will stay in the fight to finish the job.

INFLATION RISKS

U.S. data showed the consumer price index rose 0.3% in

February, in line with forecasts and above January's 0.2%

increase. The report, however, was not regarded as particularly

relevant given that the Iran war has started to fuel

inflation.

In bond markets, the risk of rising inflation outweighed

safe-haven considerations to shove yields higher globally.

Yields on 10-year Treasury notes rose 4 basis points

to 4.2472% on Thursday, having jumped 6 bps overnight.

Fed funds futures extended their slide as investors feared

higher inflation would make it harder for the Federal Reserve to

ease policy. Markets are just wagering one more rate cut from

the Fed this year.

The danger of energy-driven inflation has led markets to

wager the next move in rates from the European Central Bank

could be up, possibly as early as June.

Nervous investors sought the liquidity of dollars while

shunning currencies from countries that are net energy

importers, including Japan and much of Europe.

The euro slipped 0.3% to $1.1536, after closing at

the weakest level since November last year. The dollar inched up

0.1% to 159.12 yen, the strongest level since January

when reported rate checks from the U.S. Fed spooked yen bears.

The risk-sensitive Australian dollar lost 0.3% to

$0.7133, having hit a more than three-year high of $0.7188 on

Wednesday as bets for an imminent rate hike from its central

bank grew.