Asian shares weaker, oil up as investors weigh Saudi-Houthi escalation

Asian stock markets traded slightly lower on Wednesday despite overnight gains on Wall Street, as investors reacted to escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and severe weather threatening North American energy infrastructure. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan declined by 0.3%.

Simultaneously, international crude prices climbed as markets weighed converging supply pressures. Prices were driven upward by an approaching storm heading toward U.S. oil-producing regions in the Gulf of Mexico, alongside attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement targeting Saudi Arabia, which counterbalanced expectations of increased Middle East crude supplies. Brent crude futures increased by 93 cents, or 0.92%, reaching $101.51 a barrel by early trading hours.