Asian stocks remain stable after Wall Street oil rises sharply

By Shinichi Saoshiro

TOKYO (Reuters) – Asian stocks held up after Wall Street raised oil prices Friday as oil tanker attacks in the Gulf of Oman fueled US-Iranian tensions and raised concerns over supply flow by one of the main shipping lanes in the world.

MSCIThe broader Asia-Pacific equity index outside Japan has not changed much.

Australian stocks edged up 0.05%, while Japan's Nikkei shares edged down 0.1%.

US stocks rose on Thursday after two days of declines, as energy stocks rallied as a result of soaring crude oil.

Wall Street stocks rose sharply in June in the hope that the Federal Reserve will ease its monetary policy to counter the slowdown in the global economy due to escalating trade war with China . The S & P 500 index is up about 5% so far for the month.

However, equity market gains have been limited in anticipation of the June 18-19 meeting of the Fed, which will allow investors to see whether the Fed's monetary policy stance is in line with market expectations. short-term rate reduction.

"There is a lot of uncertainty in the next week. FOMC (Open Committee of the Federal Reserve) because the market reaction will be very different depending on whether or not the Fed is considering easing its policy, "said Shusuke Yamada, head of currency trading in Japan and shares of Bank Of America Merrill Lynch.

"The wait-and-see approach will probably start to prevail in the markets by FOMC. "

In commodities, Brent crude futures fell 0.29% to $ 61.13 a barrel after rising 2.3% the day before.

Brent jumped on Thursday after the attack of two tankers in the Gulf of Oman, one Norwegian and the other Japanese.

The United States has accused Iran of having committed these badaults. But US and European security officials as well as regional badysts have left open the possibility that Iranian agents, or someone else, could have been held responsible.

US crude fell 0.86% to 51.83 dollars a barrel after an increase of more than 2% Thursday.

The dollar index versus a basket of six major currencies was little changed at 96.998, after stalling the day before, but caution preceded next week's Fed meeting that would keep the greenback in a narrow range.

The euro remained stable at $ 1.1281, while the greenback plunged 0.1% to 108.295 yen.

The Australian dollar was slightly lower at $ 0.6914, still fragile after yesterday's losses. The Australian dollar slid to a trough of 0.6901 dollars on Thursday in two weeks after domestic labor statistics added to expectations of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

(Edited by Simon Cameron-Moore)