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Asia stocks sink, oil hits record above $144
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-03 14:58 The dollar stood at 105.86 yen little changed from late New York. "Reasons to sell the dollar are lined up," said a trader for a Japanese trust bank. US crude prices continued their relentless rise, climbing to a record $144.44 a barrel in early Asian trade, up 50 percent this year as tensions grew between Israel and the world's fourth largest oil exporter Iran and supply fears boiled over. Gold, often used by investors as a hedge against rising inflation, was relatively steady at $942.85 an ounce after hitting a two-month high of $944.35 on Wednesday. Japanese government bonds edged lower as caution prevailed before a key auction. Bond dealers are bracing for a 1.9 trillion yen ($17.95 billion) auction of 10-year paper, with results due at 0345 GMT. September 10-year futures slipped 0.01 point to 134.67 after rising earlier to 134.87 in response to the overnight gains in US Treasuries. The benchmark 10-year yield rose 1.5 basis points to 1.670 percent. |
