Bangkok, Jul 27: Shares were mostly higher Monday in Asia as oil prices slipped more than 4 per cent after the US and Iran refrained from fighting while discussing a possible resumption of negotiations on an interim ceasefire deal.
Shares in Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT soared about 470 per cent as they began trading on Shanghai’s technology board. The company jumped to become China’s most valuable listed company with an estimated market capitalization of 3.3 trillion yuan (nearly USD 490 billion).
The Pentagon did not respond to questions about the pause in attacks on Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure after nearly two weeks of escalating fighting sparked by Iran’s firing at ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
But markets reacted with relief. US futures surged early Monday and the price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 4.6 per cent to USD 87.46.
US benchmark crude dropped 5.1 per cent to USD 84.79 per barrel.
In Asian trading, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 per cent to 64,771.02, while the Kospi in South Korea was up 0.3 per cent to 6,708.87.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.8 per cent to 25,164.81, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.4 per cent to 3,827,96.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 surged 1.3 per cent to 8,883.00.
Taiwan’s Taiex slipped 0.3 per cent and the Sensex in India added 0.7 per cent.
On Friday, the S&P 500 barely budged, picking up less than 0.1 per cent to 7,411.98. The index notched its second consecutive losing week, which hadn’t happened since March.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5 per cent to 51,947.25, while the Nasdaq composite index slipped 0.6 per cent, to 24,975.82. Sharp losses for several big tech stocks pulled it lower.
Micron Technology fell 7 per cent and Broadcom fell 2.7 per cent. Both companies have large market values and were big reasons for the technology-heavy Nasdaq’s decline.
Recent surges in energy prices and fresh tariffs announced last week by the administration of US President Donald Trump could result in hotter inflation, which has been squeezing consumers and looming over the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy.
The Fed meets this week, though rising inflation has dashed hopes for an interest rate cut anytime soon. Wall Street has been leaning toward a potential rate hike to tamp down higher prices.
Higher energy costs are taking up a bigger share of household budgets, which have shifted toward more basic needs, like gasoline. Nationally, a gallon of gasoline costs USD 4.11 per gallon, according to AAA.
That’s still lower than this spring as the conflict in Iran expanded, but almost a dollar higher than last year at this time.
Meanwhile, corporate earnings reports are focusing attention on the sustainability of broader profits from a boom in spending on artificial intelligence.
Tech giants like Alphabet and Nvidia have been spending heavily to expand AI capacity and investors increasingly are questioning whether they will generate profits to justify the massive stock values that have pushed markets market higher throughout the year. (AP)
