Stocks sink, yields at multi-decade highs and oil spikes on Mideast flare-up

HONG KONG: Stocks fell and bond yields held at multi-decade highs as investors ramp up rate hike bets amid a fresh flare-up in Middle East tensions that has sparked another surge in oil prices.Crude jumped more than 2 per cent and has spiked around 10 per cent this week after the United States hit an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz, sparking a series of tit-for-tat attacks in which Tehran has targeted American interests in several regional countries.The latest round of military action comes after weeks of relative calm during which peace talks went nowhere and Washington said it would aim for the "economic asphyxiation" of the Islamic republic.With the strait - through which about a fifth of world oil and gas passes - effectively closed for the foreseeable future and energy costs un