Asia shares tense as Fed looms, Ukraine a concern - Reuters

The euro was stuck at $1.1324 , having failed to sustain a recent rally to near $1.1500."The risk is the Fed's statement portrays an urgency to act soon, likely in March, in the face of very high inflation," said Joseph Capurso, CBA's head of international economics."That could even encourage markets to price a risk of a 50 basis point rate hike in March and, under that scenario, we expect a knee-jerk reaction above its 4 January high of 96.46."The Japanese yen tends to benefit from safe haven flows as stocks crumble, keeping the dollar at 113.84 and uncomfortably close to last week's low of 113.47.Gold held up at $1,836 an ounce , having hit a six-week peak of $1,842 last week.Oil prices were rising again having climbed for five weeks in a row to a seven-year peak on expectations demand will stay strong and supplies limited.Brent added 83 cents to $88.72 a barrel, while U.S. crude rose 77 cents to $85.91.Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.Subscribe to our daily curated newsletter to receive the latest exclusive Reuters coverage delivered to your inbox.Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day.