* US, Iran launch attacks in the Gulf
* Oil prices ease but still over $100/barrel
* Traders on watch for yen intervention
(Updates prices)
By Rae Wee and Amanda Cooper
SINGAPORE/LONDON, May 5 (Reuters) - Global stocks rose
on Tuesday, taking some heart from a series of robust earnings,
while simmering hostilities between the U.S. and Iran over the
Strait of Hormuz kept the oil price well above $100 a barrel.
Traders also had their eyes on the yen after the Japanese
currency briefly jumped in the previous session, stoking
speculation of another round of intervention from Tokyo.
In Europe, the STOXX 600 rose 0.5%, lifted by
brewer Anheuser-Busch, which beat forecasts with
first-quarter results, and by shares in Italian lender Unicredit
, which reported record quarterly profits.
The U.S. and Iran launched new attacks in the Gulf on Monday as
they wrestled for control over the Strait of Hormuz with
duelling maritime blockades, not long after U.S. President
Donald Trump launched a new effort to get stranded tankers and
other ships through the vital energy-trade chokepoint.
Maersk said the Alliance Fairfax, a U.S.-flagged
vehicle carrier operated by its Farrell Lines subsidiary, exited
the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz accompanied by U.S. military
assets on Monday.
Stocks and other risk assets got some respite from a modest
retreat in the oil price, which edged below Monday's high around
$115 a barrel.
Still, the renewed hostilities jolted markets and served as
a stark reminder that the war in the Middle East was far from
over.
In oil markets, Brent crude futures fell 1.5% to $112.74
a barrel, having jumped in the previous session on heightened
worries about supply disruption.
"Markets may find some relief today following President
Trump's overnight comments suggesting the conflict could
continue for another two to three weeks. However, markets are
likely to view this with considerable scepticism, given the
recent escalation and the repeated extensions of projected
timelines for ending hostilities since the conflict began," ING
head of commodities strategy Warren Patterson said.
Data from S&P Global Market Intelligence showed 83% of S&P
500 companies that have already reported have beaten EPS
estimates and 78.2% of them have beaten revenue estimates. LSEG
data shows earnings growth for the S&P 500 is now projected to
top 18% in the first quarter, up from estimates of around 12.8%
just a month ago.
Nasdaq futures rose 0.7% and S&P 500 futures were
up 0.5%, suggesting a pickup from Monday's negative close.
"With no signs of slowing down, AI-driven spending will
likely continue to do the heavy lifting for S&P 500 earnings
growth, led by the technology sector," said Jeff Buchbinder,
chief equity strategist at LPL Financial.
YEN INTERVENTION WATCH
The yen was last slightly weaker on the day, leaving the dollar
up 0.3% at 157.736, after Monday's short-lived surge that
saw the Japanese currency touch an intraday high of 155.69.
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama on Monday spoke out
against speculative trading in foreign exchange, leaving market
participants on alert for further intervention after sources
told Reuters Tokyo intervened to prop up its ailing currency on
Thursday.
Abbas Keshvani, Asia Macro Strategist at RBC Capital
Markets, said authoriti.es could intervene again if dollar/yen
continues to test 160, which they have historically defended,
noting that in 2022, Tokyo "fired three volleys of intervention
in a few weeks."
"We suspect intervention will merely act as a lid on
USD/JPY, not a catalyst for protracted yen strength," he said.
In other currencies, the Australian dollar last traded
0.1% lower at $0.7161, after the Reserve Bank of Australia on
Tuesday raised rates for a third time this year in a widely
expected move.
Elsewhere, spot gold rose 1% to $4,565 an ounce, above
Monday's trough at $4,500, the lowest since March 31.