Oil prices drop lifts Asian shares after Wall Street gains

Oil prices slipped on Thursday after sharp gains earlier in the week, as renewed fighting between the United States and Iran kept markets on edge, while most Asian stocks rose following Wall Street's upbeat performance.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 0.4% to $95.26 a barrel. US crude slipped 0.1% to $90.84 per barrel.

US futures also moved slightly higher.

Oil prices had surged earlier this week as renewed conflict between the US and Iran raised concerns over possible disruptions to energy supplies. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he did not expect the US bombing campaign to continue for “much longer.”

In Asian trading, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.2% to 64,455.83. SoftBank Group gained 2.9%, while Kioxia Holdings added 0.6% and Tokyo Electron rose 0.8%.

South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.4% to 6,656.81, with Samsung Electronics gaining 1.3% and SK Hynix rising 1.4%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged up 0.1%, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.4%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5%, Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.6%, and India’s Sensex added 0.3%.

The gains followed a positive session on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 rose 0.5% on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6%, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.5%.

Read More

Trump plan risks derailing Venezuela oil recovery: Bousso

Investors were encouraged by positive signs of continued demand for artificial intelligence, which has been a major force behind this year’s stock market rally.

Dell Technologies surged 15.8% after reporting strong quarterly earnings. Nvidia gained 3.2%, Meta Platforms rose 2.5%, and Micron Technology added 2.4%.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 4.77% from above 4.81% early Wednesday. Global bond markets had come under pressure amid concerns over inflation, rising energy prices linked to the Iran conflict and growing US government debt.

Investors are now awaiting the US employment report for August, due Friday.

In currency trading, the Japanese yen strengthened against the US dollar. The dollar fell to 157.78 yen from 158.71 yen late Wednesday after climbing above 160 yen earlier in the week, fueling expectations that Japanese authorities could intervene to support the currency.

The euro rose slightly to $1.1598 from $1.1588.