San Francisco Frontiers - Stocks sink as oil rally fans inflation and rate hike fears

With the US and Iran exchanging strikes around the crucial Strait of Hormuz -- and Saudi Arabia entangled in a conflict with Yemeni rebels -- there appears little prospect of an end to the crisis, dealing a rally across markets.

Brent crude struck past $100 on Wednesday for the first time since July and has surged more than 20 percent in less than a week as forces exchanged attacks on vessels in Hormuz.

That has fanned speculation the Federal Reserve and other central banks will have to hike interest rates to tame prices -- US diesel is already at a record of almost $6 a gallon. The European Central Bank is tipped to lift borrowing costs Thursday.

In the latest round of attacks, Iran said it hit more than a dozen ships attempting to pass through the strait Wednesday, and announced an expansion of a no-go zone outside the waterway.

Tehran has choked off the strait since the war began at the end of February while Washington continues to press a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.

Iran also said it struck a US military base in Jordan in response to US forces destroying five Iranian oil tankers a day earlier.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is entangled in a conflict with Houthi rebels who are striking oil facilities in the kingdom as part of an offensive towards the Red Sea's Bab al-Mandab chokepoint.

The waterway is an increasingly important route for Saudi oil with the Strait of Hormuz shut.

Brent hit a high of $101.94 Thursday, while West Texas Intermediate peaked at $97.79, the highest since May.

The rally has stoked expectations that inflation will spike again, and comes as Washington prepares to release crucial consumer price data that could sway the Fed's thinking on whether to raise rates next week.

With bets on a hike rising, stocks are in the firing line, with all three main indexes on Wall Street in the red and Europe also taking a hiding.

Asia followed suit.

Seoul, Hong Kong and Sydney all fell more than one percent, while Tokyo, Shanghai, Singapore, Wellington, Taipei and Manila were also well down.

"September is often tough, historically the weakest for Wall Street," said Neil Wilson at Saxo Markets.

"After a decent if slightly mixed summer driven by record earnings momentum -- at least in the US stock market -- the next phase for investors is going to focus a lot more on the macro: central banks and inflation specifically, and that is likely to mean a rockier patch."

Inflation concerns have also been driving government bond yields higher, and they jumped further Wednesday after the US Treasury announced an expanded buyback programme that appeared to disappoint investors who had expected more.

In company news, shares in Japanese gaming giant Nintendo sank 5.5 percent following an online showcase of upcoming games that analyst Serkan Toto of Kantan Games called "very underwhelming".

In terms of new software, the Japanese gaming giant has now "shown everything that they have" for this calendar year, with a dearth of big original titles, Toto told AFP.

"They don't have a lot, and I think the investors understand that," he said.

- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 64,597.46 (break)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.2 percent at 24,980.30

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 3,939.11

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $96.44 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $101.28 per barrel

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 153.35 yen from 153.65 yen on Wednesday

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1639 from $1.1629

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3559 from $1.3544

Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.84 pence from 85.86 pence

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.8 percent at 52,380.66 (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.3 percent at 10,670.06 (close)

J.Martinez--SFF