Asian stocks fall over oil and inflation concerns

Asian shares tracked a broad selloff on Wall Street to weaken for a third successive session on Tuesday, as investors expressed concerns on oil prices hitting multi year highs which could add to inflationary pressures caused by supply chain disruptions.

U.S. and European stock futures edged up, with S&P 500 e-minis rising 0.01%, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures gaining 0.2 and FTSE futures gaining 0.4%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) dropped as much as 1.3%, declining for a third consecutive session. Japan stocks (.N225) were down 2.5%, South Korea (.KS11) retreated by 2% and Australia (.AXJO) shed 0.4%.

Investors are clearly worried about inflation due to supply chain disruptions and the rally in energy prices. The drop in markets took MSCI’s main benchmark to 619.77, the lowest since November 2020 but it pared losses to be down 0.6% in late Asia trade.