Crude surges after Trump tears up Iran deal, equities turn lower

Hong Kong -Oil prices surged more than 2% in Asia on Wednesday after Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal, fuelling fresh geopolitical uncertainty.

Both main crude contracts have been rising in recent weeks to reach three-and-half-year highs on expectations the president would withdraw from the 2015 pact, which opened up Tehran's atomic programme in return for an easing of sanctions.

West Texas Intermediate was up $1.51 at $70.57 per barrel and Brent North Sea rose $1.80 at $76.65 per barrel.

In an address on Tuesday he said he would pull out of the accord - which was agreed by Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the Obama administration - calling it "defective at its core".

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said the country could now resume uranium enrichment "without limit" but would discuss its response with the other signatories before making a decision.

With the move already priced into markets, WTI and Brent sank soon after the announcement with some commentators suggesting Trump could still pedal back on some of his rhetoric and shift to a more diplomatic tone.

However, they bounced back strongly in Asia and there is talk it could continue rising to $80 a barrel, with gains helped by uncertainty in oil-rich Venezuela, the OPEC-Russia output cap, improving global demand and data pointing to a drop in US stockpiles.

"Given the unilateral move by the US, much of the movement on oil prices had been factored in," said Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trade at OANDA.

Dollar up on Fed talk

He said that the market would continue to be supported by other factors, adding that "even without Iran sanctions oil prices will remain firm".

The hike in oil prices boosted regional energy firms, with CNOOC, PetroChina and Sinopec all up almost 2% in Hong Kong, while Inpex added a similar amount in Tokyo. Sydney-listed Woodside Petroleum and Rio Tinto were also well up.

Despite the energy sector's gains, Asian equity markets were in the red, with Tokyo ending the morning session 0.4% lower, Hong Kong shedding 0.1% and Shanghai 0.2% off.

Singapore fell 0.3% and Seoul was off 0.6% while Sydney was barely moved. Manila and Jakarta fell but Wellington and Taipei were in positive territory.

National Australia Bank's strategist Ray Attrill said in a commentary: "It's early days in terms of how the decision will play out in terms of heightened geopolitical stress in the Middle East."

On currency markets the dollar held gains after Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell indicated the central bank would press on with raising interest rates, and that the risks to emerging markets were limited.

"There is good reason to think that the normalisation of monetary policy in advanced economies should continue to prove manageable for (emerging market economies), he told a conference in Zurich on Tuesday.

The greenback was well up against most other high-yielding currencies with the South Korean won off 0.5%, Malaysian ringgit down 0.1% and Indonesian rupiah 0.2% lower.

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