Hong Kong, May 11: World shares were mixed Monday after Wall Street set more records, and oil rose more than 2 per cent following US President Donald Trump’s rejection of Tehran’s response to the latest US proposal on ending the war in Iran.
US futures edged less than 0.1 per cent lower.
In early European trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.2 per cent to 10,253.99. Germany’s DAX fell less than 0.1 per cent to 24,328.17, and France’s CAC 40 lost 0.8 per cent to 8,049.31.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.5 per cent to 62,417.88 after briefly reaching another record high in intraday trading at above 63,300. Technology-focused investment holding company SoftBank Group, one of Japan’s largest stocks, fell more than 6 per cent.
South Korea’s Kospi gained 4.3 per cent to 7,822.24. It also hit an all-time intraday high, led by gains from tech-related stocks including Samsung Electronics and memory chip maker SK Hynix.
Technology-related stocks and growing artificial intelligence-related interest have supported markets in Japan and South Korea despite the Iran war, with the Nikkei 225 and Kospi rising more than 10 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively, over the past month.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up less than 0.1 per cent to 26,406.84. The Shanghai Composite index climbed 1.1 per cent to 4,225.02, following official data Monday that showed China’s factory gate prices rose 2.8 per cent in April from a year ago, the highest since 2022, as well as better-than-expected export figures released over the weekend.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.5 per cent. Taiwan’s Taiex traded 0.5 per cent higher, and India’s Sensex fell 1.7 per cent.
Oil prices jumped early Monday over Iran war uncertainties, after Trump wrote in a social media post that Iran’s response on Sunday to the US’ latest proposal was “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!”
Brent crude, the international standard, gained 2.6 per cent to USD 103.88 per barrel. It was roughly USD 70 per barrel before the war began in late February. Benchmark US crude was 2.5 per cent higher at USD 97.78 a barrel.
With the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global oil and gas transport, still largely closed and as the US is continuing its sea blockade of Iranian ports, analysts believe oil prices are likely to remain higher for longer.
The Iran war was also set to be part of the discussion agenda when Trump meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this week. China has close economic links with Iran and the US has been pressing Beijing to leverage its influence to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“There remains a glimmer of hope that talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi later this week could yield positive results on Iran,” ING commodities analysts Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a note on Monday.
“The hope is that China can use its influence over Iran to push it closer towards a peace deal,” they said. “Clearly, this is easier said than done.” The oil market is still very much “heavily headline-driven,” the pair added.
On Friday, Wall Street rose to new records with the benchmark S&P 500 adding 0.8 per cent to 7,398.93 and reaching its latest all-time high, fuelled by market optimism after a solid report on the US job market which was better than what analysts had expected despite Iran war shocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up less than 0.1 per cent to 49,609.16, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 1.7 per cent to its own record at 26,247.08.
In other dealings, the US dollar climbed to 157.14 Japanese yen from 156.61 yen. The euro was trading at USD 1.1766, down from USD 1.1780. (AP)
