[MARKET UPDATE] Asia-Pac stocks begin lower following the negative lead from Wall St amid higher oil prices and yields, which was triggered by the recent geopolitical flare up

Asia-Pac sessions that inherit a negative US close on a geopolitical flare-up have tended to follow a familiar sequence: oil and yields lead, equities follow the Wall Street handoff, and the open tells less than the next few hours of trading. The key distinction in episodes of this kind is between supply-risk-driven oil strength, which is negative for equities through the energy-import cost channel, and oil strength that merely rides a risk bid, which has tended to fade faster. Higher yields alongside higher crude point to the former, an inflation-impulse read rather than a growth-scare read, which historically weighs on rate-sensitive and regional energy importers more than on producers. The tells in past episodes have been whether the oil bid holds through European hours, whether haven flows appear in gold and the usual currencies, and whether the flare-up draws fresh escalation or consolidates. Absent a headline body, the wrap is directional only; the follow-on to watch is any official response or retaliation that converts a sentiment move into a supply disruption.