Asian shares and U.S. treasury yields plunged on Wednesday, while gold and oil shot higher after Iran fired rockets at an Iraqi airbase that hosts U.S. military forces, stoking fears of further sharp escalations in a developing conflict.

Iran's missile attacks on the Ain Al-Asad air base and another in Erbil, Iraq, early Wednesday came hours after the funeral of an Iranian commander whose killing in a U.S. drone strike has raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East.

In morning trade, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.5%. Japan's Nikkei dropped 2.5% and Australian shares fell 1%.

U.S. crude soared 4.42% to $65.47 a barrel.

Source : Reuters