Asian Markets Mixed As Oil Jumps Over $1 On US-Iran Tensions, Nikkei Hits Fresh Record At 60,564

Bangkok: Shares were mixed in Asia, and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index hit a fresh record Monday after US stocks ended last week with new highs. The price of oil gained more than USD 1 as talks on ending the war with Iran hit more snags. The White House cancelled plans to send envoys to Pakistan for more negotiations, and US President Donald Trump cited a lack of progress.

“If they want, we can talk, but we're not sending people,” Trump told Fox News on Sunday. He said earlier on social media: “All they have to do is call!!!” This week will bring decisions on interest rates by top central banks, including the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 surged 1.4 per cent to 60,564.18, touching new intraday highs. The Kospi in South Korea jumped 2.1 per cent to 6,617.94. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged 0.1 per cent lower to 25,951.86, and the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.2 per cent at 4,089.04. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.3 per cent to 8,759.40. Taiwan's Taiex rallied 2.6 per cent, helped by a revival of buying of tech shares driven by the boom in artificial intelligence.

On Friday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.8 per cent and topped its prior all-time high, which was set on Wednesday. It closed at 7,165.08. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.2 per cent to 49,230.71, while the Nasdaq composite rallied 1.6 per cent to its own record thanks to strong gains for the tech sector, closing at 24,836.60. A survey by the University of Michigan found consumer sentiment soured in April across political party, income, age, and education, though it improved a bit after the ceasefire in the war with Iran was announced earlier in the month.

The S&P 500 has leapt nearly 13 per cent in a little under a month. Hopes have also been built in financial markets that the United States and Iran can find a way to avoid a worst-case scenario for the global economy because of their war. A tenuous ceasefire remains, but tensions between the US and Iran are keeping oil tankers from passing through the Strait of Hormuz to deliver crude from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide.

In Wall Street trading on Friday, Intel roared past its peak in 2000 during the dot-com boom to an all-time high. It soared 23.6 per cent for its best day since 1987 after reporting much stronger results for the first three months of the year than analysts expected.

CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the next wave of artificial-intelligence technology is increasing the need for Intel's chips and products, and the company's forecast for profit in the spring topped analysts' estimates.

In other dealings early Monday, the price for a barrel of Brent crude to be delivered in July is at USD 100.57. US benchmark crude oil added USD 1.28 to USD 95.65. The dollar fell to 159.34 Japanese yen from 159.59. The euro climbed to USD 1.1723 from USD 1.1701.

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