Stocks tumble, gold and crude soar after Iran strike on U.S. forces

The world's shares tumbled but oil prices shot up on Wednesday, stoking fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.

European equity markets were expected to open lower, with pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures down 0.77 percent, German DAX futures off 0.91 percent and FTSE futures 0.45 percent lower.

Iran's missile attacks on the Ain Al-Asad air base and another in Erbil, Iraq, early in the day came hours after the funeral of an Iranian general whose killing in a U.S. drone strike has intensified tensions in the region.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.72 percent, having dropped more than a percent earlier in the day. China's blue-chip CSI300 index was 1.18 percent lower.

Japan's Nikkei dipped by 1.57 percent, paring earlier losses of more than two percent, while Australian shares clawed back from an over one percent drop to shed 0.13 percent. U.S. S&P 500 e-mini stock futures, which had earlier tumbled nearly 1.7 percent, were down 0.38 percent.

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Stocks tumble, crude gains after Iran strike on U.S. forces