HONG KONG: Asian markets rose Friday as optimism over US-Iran talks buoyed equities, though higher oil prices kept inflation concerns in focus. Investor sentiment stayed positive for a second straight day on hopes that diplomatic progress could stabilise energy supplies after weeks of turbulence from the Middle East conflict, even as crude prices ticked higher on the day. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said talks to end the war could progress, eyeing help from Pakistani mediators to help strike an agreement. &quot;I believe the Pakistanis will be travelling to Tehran today. So hopefully that&#39;ll advance this further,&quot; Rubio told reporters. President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday that negotiations were on the &quot;borderline&quot; between a deal and renewed strikes. &quot;If we don&#39;t get the right answers, it goes very quickly. We&#39;re all ready to go,&quot; Trump said. A ceasefire agreed on April 8 halted weeks of fighting between the US-Israel alliance and Iran, but has yet to produce a lasting peace deal, leaving markets vacillating at every development. Tehran said it was reviewing US proposals but warned of a &quot;forceful response&quot; to any renewed attack, as both sides exchanged terms under the threat of escalation. A key sticking point remains the Strait of Hormuz, which remains effectively closed despite the ceasefire and normally transports one-fifth of global energy supplies. In Asia, Tokyo led regional gains, with the Nikkei jumping more than 2%. Taipei advanced nearly 1.5%, while Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Wellington, Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur were all in the green. The gains followed a cautiously positive session on Wall Street, where equities edged higher at the close. Attention also turned to South Korea, where unionised workers at Samsung were poised to begin voting on Friday on a tentative wage deal that has averted a major strike. The chip giant and its union reached the provisional agreement late Wednesday following last-minute, government-mediated talks, avoiding a planned 18-day strike that was set to begin on Thursday. The prospective deal introduces a new bonus pool for employees in the semiconductor division, equivalent to 10.5% of the division&#39;s operating profit, to be paid in stock. While workers are expected to benefit from the deal, some shareholders have voiced opposition, vowing to pursue legal action against it. Shares in Samsung Electronics were trading more than 1.5% lower on Friday morning. Elsewhere, Japanese government data showed core inflation slowed to 1.4% in April, coming in below market expectations as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi rushes to draft an extra budged to offset the impacts of the Middle East war. Sentiment on Wall Street was boosted by Elon Musk&#39;s filing for a public sale of SpaceX shares, which could be the largest initial public offering in history as the rocket and satellite company seeks to raise up to $75 billion. Despite strong profit growth, shares in chip giant Nvidia failed to rally, initially edging higher before closing down 1.8%. Walmart also fell sharply, dropping 7.3% after issuing a cautious outlook and warning about pressure on consumers. Key figures at around 0215 GMT&nbsp; Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.9% at $104.52 a barrel West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.4% at $97.76 a barrel Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.1% at 62,996.19 Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6% at 25,531.90 Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2% at 4,083.24 Euro/dollar: DOWN at 1.1611 from $1.1622 on Thursday Pound/dollar: DOWN at 1.3427 from $1.3439 Dollar/yen: UP at 159.08 from 158.91 yen Euro/pound: FLAT at 86.48 from 86.48 pence New York - DOW: UP 0.6% at 50,285.66 points (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1% at 10,443.47 (close)

Pedestrians are pictured in front of an electronic quotation boards displaying the Nikkei Stock Average on the Tokyo Stock Exchange along a street in Tokyo on May 22, 2026. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

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Asian markets climbed as optimism over US-Iran peace talks lifted investor sentiment despite rising oil prices and lingering inflation concerns.

Asian equities climb on Mideast optimism, oil edges higher

HONG KONG: Most Asian shares were lower in morning trade on Monday, extending slides in global markets, as the impasse in the Middle East drove oil prices more than two percent higher. Washington and Tehran agreed to a truce in April, but negotiations on ending the conflict have stalled and sporadic attacks in the region have continued. US President Donald Trump issued a fresh warning to Iran on Sunday, saying it had to move quickly towards a peace deal or &quot;there won&#39;t be anything left of them&quot;. The war has led to an effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of global oil exports pass in peacetime. The strait &quot;remains meaningfully closed now approaching eleven weeks after the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing concluded without a breakthrough on reopening the waterway&quot;, MUFG&#39;s Michael Wan said Monday. Tokyo shares lost 1.0% and Hong Kong was down 1.4%, while Shanghai was flat. Sydney, Bangkok, Taipei, Singapore and Wellington also fell, with Jakarta tumbling 2.7%. Seoul, which has renewed record highs in recent days thanks to the artificial intelligence stock boom, was trading up 1.2%. &quot;Global government yields rose sharply heading into the start of this week, as three forces collided: surging oil prices, fading hopes for a Strait of Hormuz resolution, and mounting fiscal concerns especially in the UK and US,&quot; Wan said. However, last week&#39;s talks on trade between China and the United States have offered &quot;a degree of relief for Asian markets&quot;, he added. &#39;Wave&#39; of AI demandData showed Monday that China&#39;s consumer spending in April grew at the slowest pace in more than three years a stark sign of the challenges Beijing faces to reignite domestic activity. In Tokyo, shares in memory chip maker Kioxia were not yet trading after a reported rush of buy orders following stellar quarterly results on Friday. Kioxia, the world&#39;s third-largest producer of NAND flash memory chips used as storage in AI data centers has seen its stock soar nearly 300% over the past year. The firm has forecast an eye-watering 1.3 trillion yen ($8.2 billion) in operating profit for April-June, saying it is &quot;riding the large wave of AI demand, which has led to record high revenue and profits&quot;. In South Korea, Samsung Electronics which has also profited massively from the AI memory chip boom resumed union talks in a bid to avoid a strike over bonus payments, due to start Thursday. Later Monday, traders will have their eye on a meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bank chiefs that kicks off in Paris, with bond selloffs in the spotlight, analysts said. Then all eyes will be on quarterly results from US chip titan Nvidia, set for Wednesday, which will be scrutinized as tech investors question whether huge spending on AI data centers is justified by potential returns. Key figures at around 0215 GMT&nbsp; West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.5% at $108.00 a barrel Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.1% at $111.52 a barrel Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.0% at 60,797.08 Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.4% at 25,593.23 Shanghai - Composite: FLAT at 4133.75 Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3311 from $1.3316 on Friday Euro/pound: UP at 87.27 pence from 87.25 pence Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1617 from $1.1620 Dollar/yen: UP at 158.92 yen from 158.78 yen New York - DOW: DOWN 1.1% at 49,526.17 points (close) London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.7% at 10,195.37 (close)

Pedestrians walk past an electronic quotation board displaying the Nikkei Stock Average on the Tokyo Stock Exchange along a street in Tokyo on May 18, 2026. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP) Related content

Asian markets fell as Middle East tensions pushed oil prices higher, with Strait of Hormuz disruption fears, weak China data, and upcoming US tech earnings weighing on sentiment.

Asian stocks sink, oil rises on US-Iran deadlock

LONDON: Oil prices fell, and global stock markets traded mixed on Thursday, awaiting an update on a US plan to end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. After plunging more than 10 per cent at one point on Wednesday on hopes of peace, crude futures fell nearly another 4 per cent. The benchmark international oil contract, Brent Crude, was back under $100 per barrel. European stock markets declined after big gains the previous session, while leading Asian markets climbed. Tokyo soared 5.6 percent, which largely reflected the resumption of trading in Japan after the country&#39;s public holidays this week. &quot;The wild streak of enthusiasm which hit markets amid hopes for a major de-escalation in the Iran conflict is tempering,&quot; noted Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club. &quot;There&#39;s a realisation that there are more hurdles to climb for a longer-term resolution to be agreed, even though Iran is reported to be studying a US peace proposal aimed at formally ending the conflict.&quot; US President Donald Trump said an agreement could be near after positive talks, with Iran adding that it would pass on its latest position to mediator Pakistan. The war, launched by the United States and Israel in late February, has seen Iran respond with attacks across the Middle East and impose a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway to the Gulf oil and gas industries and a strategic trade route. In foreign exchange on Thursday, the dollar lost some of its safe-haven support. Investors in Tokyo were closely watching the yen after speculation of intervention by the Japanese government to prop up the beleaguered currency. Norway&#39;s central bank on Thursday hiked its guiding rate by a quarter point to 4.25 percent, citing a risk that the war in the Middle East could worsen already elevated inflation. &quot;Inflation is too high and has run above target for several years,&quot; Norges Bank governor Ida Wolden Bache said in a statement. Earnings boostAway from the war, there has been a fresh wave of cash pumped into the technology sector as traders snap up all things artificial intelligence, helped by standout earnings from Apple, Google parent Alphabet, Microsoft and Samsung during the ongoing first-quarter reporting season. &quot;It does feel as if US stock indices are in a melt-up phase,&quot; said Trade Nation analyst David Morrison, using an expression for a situation when a large of amount of money is invested in stocks in a short period of time. Both the S&amp;P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite set fresh all-time highs as trading got underway, even if they only edged higher. &quot;FOMO (fear of missing out) is playing an important role here, yet it&#39;s difficult to work out what could trigger a significant pullback,&quot; said Morrison. &quot;That in itself is a concern.&quot; Emirates Group on Thursday announced a three-percent rise in annual profits to $5.7 billion despite severe disruption to flights owing to the war. Key figures at around 1330 GMTBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 3.7 percent at $97.50 a barrel West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 3.9 percent at $91.37 a barrel New York - DOW: UP 0.4 percent at 50,109.76 points New York - S&amp;P 500: UP 0.1 percent at 7,373.25 New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 25,877.65 London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8 percent at 10,355.47 Paris - CAC 40: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 8,293.01 Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.2 percent at 24,867.36 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 5.6 percent at 62,833.84 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.6 percent at 26,626.28 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 4,180.09 (close) Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1774 from $1.1752 on Wednesday Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3625 from $1.3594 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 156.30 yen from 156.39 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.43 pence from 86.45 pence

Customers refuel their vehicles at a gas station of Nayara Energy Limited, in Bengaluru on December 12, 2025. (File photo: AFP)

After plunging more than 10 per cent at one point on Wednesday on hopes of peace, crude futures fall nearly another 4 percent.

Oil prices drop awaiting Mideast peace progress

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: President Donald Trump on Wednesday said a US naval blockade against Iran could last months, sending oil prices up more than 7% to $126.41 on Thursday, the highest in more than four years. The trajectory of oil prices can be traced back to Feb. 28, when the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran, prompting immediate retaliation. Oil prices rose more than 3% on the day, with Brent briefly climbing above $73 per barrel before settling at $72.48. <img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/d6387ca0-b88e-49c4-8a13-1f9292b8b4ca.jpeg" style="width: 599px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Graph made by Gemini depicting oil price volatility since the Iran war broke out&nbsp; &quot;With the US having called on its citizens to leave Israel and Iran, the threat of an attack on the Islamic Republic has dramatically risen, pushing the oil price to a seven-month high,&quot; analyst Axel Rudolph at investing and trading platform IG had said at the time. Strikes threaten Strait of Hormuz closureWithin days, concerns over the possible closure of the Strait of Hormuz pushed prices sharply higher. Brent climbed to around $80 per barrel as the OPEC+ alliance hiked production quotas by 206,000 barrels per day for April. By March 2, Qatar halted LNG production after Iranian attacks on key facilities, sending the Dutch TTF gas benchmark up nearly 45% to over &euro;46 ($54). Iranian oil facilities hitEscalation intensified in the second week of March as attacks targeted Iranian oil infrastructure and Gulf energy facilities.&nbsp; Crude surged past $100 per barrel for the first time in years, triggering declines in global equity markets and raising concerns among major energy-importing economies. Pakistan also raised domestic fuel prices by around 20%, citing global market impacts, and revised the frequency of fuel price announcements&nbsp;from fortnightly to weekly, given the rapidly changing situation. In the US, Trump dismissed the gas price spike as a &quot;small price to pay&quot; for removing the alleged threat of Iran&#39;s nuclear program. Iran strikes Qatar&#39;s Ras Laffan complexA further spike came on March 19, following a strike on a major Iranian gas facility, which sent Brent up more than 6% to nearly $110 per barrel. Iran vowed to hit energy facilities throughout the Gulf in retaliation for what it said was an Israeli attack on the Ras Laffan complex it shares with Qatar. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned the situation could have &quot;uncontrollable consequences,&quot; and John Kilduff of Again Capital described the South Pars attack as a &quot;red line&quot; for Iran. Trump postpones Iran strikes for talksBut oil prices sank around 10% on March 23 after US President Donald Trump suddenly ordered a halt to strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure after citing &quot;very good&quot; talks with Tehran. Despite Iran&#39;s foreign ministry denying any such negotiations, Trump&#39;s statement offered relief to crude prices, dipping below $100 per barrel. By this point in the war, Brent North Sea crude had jumped more than 40%, while European gas prices had rocketed over 75%. Two-week ceasefireVolatility persisted into April as US President Donald Trump set a deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, threatening attacks on infrastructure and warning Iran would be &ldquo;living in Hell&rdquo; if it didn&#39;t reopen the strait. The countries agreed to a two-week ceasefire barely an hour before Trump&#39;s deadline to &quot;obliterate&quot; Iran was set to expire, with Pakistan serving as a key intermediary and host for the negotiations. Airline shares rallied, and oil equities retreated as crude prices tumbled in response to the expected return of shipments of oil and other key products through the strait. Biggest single-day drop as Iran declares strait openThe biggest single-day drop came on April 17, when Araghchi declared the strait &quot;completely open&quot; for commercial tankers and cargo ships during the ceasefire. Brent plunged 10% to around $89 per barrel after earlier falling 5% amid hopes of a US-Iran peace deal. West Texas Intermediate shed 1% to $84.11 a barrel. US Navy seizes Iranian shipHowever, oil prices jumped again on April 20 after the US Navy imposed a blockade of the strait and fired on and seized an Iranian container ship in the Gulf of Oman the day before. Iran reimposed restrictions on the strait and warned it will &quot;under no circumstances&quot; return to the pre-war status. Most recent hikeIran warned the US on March 30 that its naval blockade was doomed to fail, after President Donald Trump signaled it could be enforced for months to come, in a confrontation wreaking havoc on global energy markets, according to AFP. As a result, oil prices soared to a four-year high, with Brent crude for June delivery up 7.1% to more than $126 a barrel. Iran&#39;s President Pezeshkian responded with a warning that the action would only further destabilize the region. At present, the US continues its blockade of Iran&#39;s ports, while the Islamic Republic maintains its stranglehold over the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Customers refuel their vehicles at a gas station of Nayara Energy Limited, in Bengaluru on December 12, 2025. (AFP)

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Brent crude rises more than 50% in March, a record gain, sending oil prices to a peak of nearly $120 a barrel and roiling the global economy.

Articles tagged with "Oil prices"

Asian equities climb on Mideast optimism, oil edges higher

Asian stocks sink, oil rises on US-Iran deadlock

Oil prices drop awaiting Mideast peace progress

Oil hits four-year high as market volatility persists