Key facts
- Oil prices surged over 2% following U.S. strikes on Iran.
- The U.S. strikes were in response to Iran's alleged attack on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
- Brent crude reached $76.09 a barrel, and U.S. benchmark crude hit $72.25 a barrel.
- Asian stock markets showed mixed performance, with gains in China and Hong Kong but declines in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
- U.S. markets experienced a decline on Tuesday, primarily driven by drops in AI-related stocks.
Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday, with oil prices surging more than 2% after the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, which it stated was in response to Tehran striking three ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 2.6% to $76.09 a barrel, while U.S. benchmark crude also gained 2.6% to $72.25 a barrel. Both had recently declined to pre-war levels.
Markets in Greater China saw gains, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng rising 2.4% and the Shanghai Composite index gaining 0.5%. Tech shares, including Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group Holding, and Baidu, advanced, with investors focusing on domestic AI development efforts.
However, other Asian markets were mostly lower. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 0.3%, South Korea's Kospi shed 2.9%, and Taiwan's Taiex lost 0.2%. South Korean AI-related tech stocks like Samsung Electronics saw declines, though SK Hynix rose. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.7%, and India's Sensex also lost 0.7%.
U.S. futures were little changed. On Tuesday, Wall Street declined as concerns over high AI stock valuations persisted. The S&P 500 fell 0.4%, the Nasdaq composite dropped 1.2%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2%. Shares in AI-focused companies such as Advanced Micro Devices, Intel, and Micron Technology saw significant drops. SpaceX fell 6.8% on its first trading day after being added to the Nasdaq 100, and Rivian Automotive dropped 18.1% after announcing a large share sale.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 162.38 Japanese yen from 162.11 yen, while the euro was unchanged at $1.1414.