In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi rose on Thursday after falling into a bear market the day before.
It advanced 2.88%, while Kosdaq, a small-cap stock, gained 3.67%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 1.88% and the Topix was higher by 0.36%. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was lower by 0.69%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.16%, while China’s CSI 300 was unchanged.
The US has launched new strikes against Iran in response to Tehran’s attacks on commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz, US Central Command said Wednesday afternoon. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were last up nearly 1%.
Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump said he may no longer be interested in negotiating a deal with Iran. Earlier, he said the truce between the US and Tehran was “over” after another wave of attacks in the Middle East.
“Any assumption of a quick return to normalized Gulf exports is certainly in question,” said Mason Mendez, global real assets analyst at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “Given the reduced supply buffer of already low global reserves and inventories, any further escalation is likely to reinvigorate the higher geopolitical risk premium in oil prices – even when negotiations finally resume.”
In regular trading, the Dow fell 576.76 points, or 1.1%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.28%. Both indices are burdened by the sharp rise in oil prices, reports SEEbiz. The Nasdaq Composite, however, rose 0.2%, helped by gains in Nvidia and other chip stocks.
Investors feared that rising energy costs could reignite inflation, forcing the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates higher than previously expected. Minutes from the Fed’s June meeting underscored that uncertainty, revealing a divided central bank unwilling to cut interest rates until officials see clearer evidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward its target.
