Asia shares skid

Friday, 27 March 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

SYDNEY (Reuters): Asian shares slipped on Thursday as tech-driven losses on Wall Street and escalating tensions in the Middle East provided a tailwind for oil prices and the safe haven yen. Risk appetite took a knock from news Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies had launched air strikes in Yemen against Houthi fighters who have tightened their grip on the southern city of Aden. The potential threat to oil supplies from the Gulf was enough to boost US crude $1.81 to $51.02, while Brent crude climbed $1.56 to $58.04 a barrel. The dollar broke down to a one-month trough on the yen around 118.94, while yields on 10-year US Treasuries ticked down to 1.91%. A dearth of Asian data meant the path of least resistance was for stocks to fall and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.8%.Australia’s main index shed 1.4%, while the Nikkei lost 1.6% in its biggest daily decline since mid-January. Chinese markets, as so often, went their own way and Shanghai rose 0.5%. On Wall Street, a drop in technology stocks had knocked the Nasdaq down 2.37% for its biggest decline in nearly a year. The Dow fell 1.62%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.46%. In currency markets, the dollar continued to drift after wild swings last week. Measured against a basket of currencies, the dollar eased 0.3% to 96.695, just above a three-week trough of 96.387 set on Tuesday. Earlier this month, it scaled a 12-year peak of 100.390. The euro was last at $1.0989, well off a 12-year trough of $1.0457 plumbed two weeks ago.