Oil Price Surge Fuels Inflation Fears, Tightens Monetary Policy Expectations

Asian stocks and bonds declined as rising oil prices fueled inflation concerns and tightened monetary policy expectations. The MSCI's Asia Pacific equities gauge dropped 1.2%, with Japan and South Korea falling 2.5%.

Dell Technologies bucked the trend, surging 8% after raising its annual sales forecast. Tech remained in focus, with Nvidia reportedly in advanced talks to acquire Hugging Face for $14 billion.

Brent crude oil rose 1.6% to $96.20 a barrel due to escalating tensions between the US and Iran, which heightened the risk of disruptions to oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz.