Asia-Pacific markets were mostly positive on Monday as investors shrugged off diplomatic setbacks between the US and Iran, even as escalating tensions in the Middle East kept oil prices higher.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 1.4% to hit a record high, while South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.83%, also hitting a new high.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.54%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.17%, while China’s CSI 300 added 0.25% after China’s industrial profits rose 15.8% year-on-year in March, accelerating from a 15.2% rise in the first two months of the year.
The mood persisted despite US President Donald Trump abandoning plans on Saturday to send US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad, Pakistan for talks with Iran.
“Too much time spent traveling, too much work! Plus there is massive infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership,’” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Oil prices jumped by about 2% after plans for a second round of peace talks between the US and Iran collapsed again, SEEbiz reports.
International benchmark Brent crude rose more than 2% to $107.49 a barrel by 7:35 p.m. ET, while U.S. crude also jumped 1.79% to $96.19.
Tensions remain high in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reportedly boarded two cargo ships near the strategic sea route.
