HONG KONG:&nbsp;Asian equities went into reverse Friday on continued worries about the AI trade after disappointing forecasts from chip titan Broadcom, while investors were also keeping a wary eye on stuttering Middle East peace efforts. After leading several markets to record highs this year, technology firms are facing selling pressure on concerns that the eye-watering sums pumped into artificial intelligence may have been overdone and stock valuations are too high. Broadcom on Wednesday sparked concern among traders who have piled into all things AI when its revenue forecast for the third quarter came in below expectations, sparking a sell-off in Wall Street&#39;s Nasdaq as dealers took profits and rotated into other sectors. And the losses have bled through to Asia, where tech-heavy Seoul and Tokyo -- which have led the region&#39;s surge this year -- sank from record highs.&nbsp;Stocks tankSouth Korean stocks tanked almost 7% at one point Friday, having dropped 1.8% the day before. The Nikkei in Tokyo was off more than 1%, matching Thursday&#39;s retreat. The losses come as investors contemplate a coming IPO by Elon Musk&#39;s SpaceX, which is aiming to raise $75 billion in the biggest initial public offering ever.&nbsp; The company said in a regulatory filing that it would offer more than 550 million shares at&nbsp;$135 each next week, which could value the company at $1.8 trillion. There were also losses in Hong Kong, Sydney, Singapore and Taipei, though Shanghai, Wellington and Manila edged up. Jakarta extended losses amid building fears about the state of the Indonesian economy and the rupiah, which have been hammered by surging oil prices. &quot;Broadcom&#39;s revenue miss sparked profit-taking across the semiconductor sector and gave investors a reason to pause after the recent AI-driven rally,&quot; said City Index&#39;s Fiona Cincotta. &quot;Broadcom&#39;s results suggest investor expectations may have run ahead of fundamentals.&quot; The latest AI wobble came as investors grew nervous about grinding efforts to end the Middle East crisis. The head of Hezbollah on Thursday rejected a conditional truce announced by Lebanon and Israel, demanding a comprehensive ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal from its northern neighbor.&nbsp;&lsquo;Last chance&rsquo;Naim Qassem&#39;s message came after the two sides agreed to a conditional ceasefire that Lebanon&#39;s president called the &quot;last chance&quot; for a durable end to the fighting. Talks between Iran and the United States also appeared to be going nowhere, with Iran reporting &quot;no tangible progress&quot;, even as President Donald Trump again voiced optimism, telling reporters a deal &quot;could happen... over the weekend&quot;. Still, oil prices held their recent losses amid lingering optimism a deal will be struck and the Strait of Hormuz -- through which a fifth of global oil usually passes -- will reopen. Official US jobs data due later in the day are also in focus following forecast-topping private data that indicated the economy remained healthy and fanned bets on the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Key figures at around 0230 GMT </h2>West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1% at $93.16 a barrel Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.5% at $95.47 a barrel Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.2% at 66,661.47 (break) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.4% at 25,155.38 Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.3% at 4,067.78 Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1615 from $1.1610 on Thursday Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3427 from $1.3423 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 159.95 yen from 160.03 yen Euro/pound: UP at 86.51 pence from 86.50 pence New York - DOW: UP 1.7% at 51,561.93 (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 0.3% at 10,360.32 (close)

Business

After leading several markets to record highs this year, technology firms are facing selling pressure on concerns that the eye-watering sums pumped into artificial intelligence may have been overdone and stock valuations are too high.

Asian stocks take another hit from AI, Mideast worries

HONG KONG: Oil rose while Asian equities firmed Monday as a surge in artificial intelligence-linked stocks helped offset uncertainty over US-Iran talks. Gains in tech-heavy markets drove investor optimism, despite uncertainty driven by US-Iran negotiations to end the war that has roiled global energy markets since February. Iran&#39;s chief negotiator warned Sunday that Tehran would not trust Washington or agree to any deal unless its rights were fully secured, underlining the gap between the two sides as talks drag on. Reports that US President Donald Trump had sent back a tougher proposal have further complicated negotiations, raising the risk of delays to any agreement to formally end the war and reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of global crude transits in peacetime. While both sides continue to exchange proposals, key sticking points remain, including Iran&#39;s nuclear program, demands for sanctions relief and the future of shipping through the vital waterway. The stifled progress has left markets sensitive to developments, with oil prices edging higher as uncertainty around supply flows continue. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose by 2.4%, while West Texas Intermediate, was up 2.8%. Across Asia, Seoul led the rally jumping by more than 4.0%, boosted by continued demand for chipmakers and AI-related firms. Memory chip giant Samsung Electronics rose by more than 9.0%, while rival SK hynix rose by over 2.0%. Taipei, Tokyo, Manila, Wellington and Singapore also advanced. Hong Kong rose in early trade though mainland Chinese markets lagged, with Shanghai dipping, as caution over the domestic outlook could have tempered buying. May factory activity for China was flat at 50.0 after two months of expansion, according to official data released on Sunday. Sydney and Kuala Lumpur were down. Analysts said the resilience of equities despite geopolitical uncertainty demonstrated how dominant the AI-driven investment cycle remained. &quot;Investors continue to embrace the AI boom while assigning a higher probability to an eventual agreement between Washington and Tehran,&quot; Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management wrote in a commentary. &quot;The reason is simple. Artificial intelligence remains the dominant engine of market psychology, and as long as Washington and Tehran continue to exchange draft proposals rather than missiles, investors appear willing to give diplomacy the benefit of the doubt,&quot; he added. Attention remains on incoming US data and central bank signals this week. Investors would also be looking to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang&#39;s keynote speech at Taipei&#39;s Computex chip summit. Huang &quot;will set the tone today, with a typical upbeat and highly positive outlook set to go down&quot;, Chris Weston of Pepperstone said. &quot;Traders will closely scrutinize any updates relating to demand, product innovations, supply chains and infrastructure buildouts impacting what is already a super-hot space,&quot; he added. Key figures at around 0230 GMT&nbsp;Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.48% at $93.38 a barrel West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.88% at $89.88 a barrel Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.1% at 25,452.47 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.0% at 67,020.75 Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.4% at 4,084.46 Euro/dollar: DOWN at 1.1645 from $1.1663 on Friday Pound/dollar: DOWN at 1.3455 from $1.3464 Dollar/yen: UP at 159.48 from 159.27 yen Euro/pound: DOWN 86.55 at from 86.63 pence London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1% at 10,416.07 (close) New York - DOW: UP 0.7% at 51,032.46 points (close)

Visitors look at electronic display boards showing stock prices and economic indicators at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on June 1, 2026. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

Asian stocks climbed on AI-driven optimism, while oil prices rose amid ongoing uncertainty over US-Iran peace talks and the future of global energy supply routes.

Asian equities ahead, oil rises as uncertainty surrounds US-Iran talks

HONG KONG: Asian stock markets surged and oil prices receded on Friday, boosted by optimism that the United States and Iran will reach a deal to end their war that has hobbled global energy supplies. Oil markets have whipsawed this week as investors parse the chances of a breakthrough agreement between Washington and Tehran that could potentially resume normal shipping through the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Those hopes had been briefly dashed by new US military strikes on Iran Wednesday night, countered by <a href="https://pakistantv.com/article/oil-prices-bounce-higher-after-new-us-strikes-on-iran" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tehran&#39;s Revolutionary Guard&#39;s</a> targeting of an American airbase in the region. But by Thursday evening, negotiators had edged toward a deal to extend their fragile ceasefire for 60 days, though approval from President Donald Trump was still needed, US sources told AFP. That news reversed a sluggish start for shares on <a href="https://pakistantv.com/article/oil-falls-asian-stocks-climb-on-hopes-of-usiran-hormuz-deal" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wall Street</a>, with major indices closing higher on the day. During Friday morning trading in Asia, the price of Brent crude was down 0.9% to around $93 a barrel, while primary US benchmark West Texas Intermediate shaved 1.1% to just below $88 a barrel. Leading indices on stock exchanges in Tokyo, Seoul and Taipei surged by more than two percent, while Sydney was up by one percent. Hong Kong&#39;s gains were more muted, while Shanghai&#39;s main benchmark had lost 0.4%. Wall Street&#39;s advances on Thursday came despite several gloomy indicators, with the Federal Reserve&#39;s preferred inflation gauge rising in April to its highest since 2023 and first quarter economic growth being revised lower. The combination of persistent inflation and slowing growth lowers the chances of interest rate cuts by the Fed, despite Trump&#39;s repeated calls for lower rates to boost the economy. Still, &quot;recession risks are easing as oil prices moderate and the probability of worst-case scenarios fades&quot;, wrote Matthew Martin of Oxford Economics. &quot;While reduced risks from the war have helped, the improvement in equity prices is mostly because of a robust earnings season. The driver is overwhelmingly AI-related capital expenditure,&quot; he said. Global AI bullishness has driven a historic rally, this week pushing the market capitalizations of chipmakers Micron and SK hynix across the $1 trillion threshold. In Europe, observers are awaiting a key gathering of leaders on Friday to discuss ways to address gaping trade deficits with China. European Union commissioners will hold a debate on what the 27-nation bloc should do to defend the continent&#39;s companies from what Brussels describes as unfair competition from Chinese rivals.&nbsp;Key figures at around 0230 GMT&nbsp;Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.9% at $92.89 a barrel West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.1% at $87.92 a barrel Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.0% at 65,997.44 points Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.3% at 25,080.86 Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.4% at 4,081.82 Euro/dollar: FLAT at $1.1647 from $1.1647 on Thursday Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3442 from $1.3441 Dollar/yen: UP at 159.30 from 159.25 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.65 pence from 86.66 pence New York - DOW: UP 0.1% at 50,668.97 (close) London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8% at 10,425.96 (close)

Oil markets have whipsawed this week as investors parse the chances of a breakthrough agreement between Washington and Tehran that could potentially resume normal shipping through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

Asia stocks surge, oil falls on hopes of US-Iran truce deal

Web Desk/AFP

Americas

Middle East

The US military shot down four drones launched from Iran and struck a control center in the port city of Bandar Abbas; Iranian forces fire at four ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz; Israel's military issues evacuation warning for residents of the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon.







Middle East roundup, May 28: US strikes Iran, drawing retaliatory attack on American base

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund warned on Thursday that continuing disruptions due to the Iran war meant its global economic outlook was moving towards an &quot;adverse&quot; scenario, with growth pared down and greater risks to inflation. Last month, the multilateral lender&#39;s World Economic Outlook predicted global growth would drop to 3.1% in 2026 in its &quot;reference&quot; scenario, but warned of a bleaker outlook if the war were to drag on. In the &quot;adverse&quot; scenario, where oil prices remain higher for longer, inflation expectations become less stable and financial conditions tighten, growth would slow to 2.5%, the Fund said at the time. On Thursday, the Fund&#39;s chief spokesperson said the global economy was headed towards this less auspicious situation. &quot;We are moving into the adverse scenario, but inflation expectations are still reasonably well anchored, and financial conditions still remain accommodative,&quot; Julie Kozack told reporters in Washington. The Fund also has a &quot;severe&quot; scenario, in which growth slows to 2% and inflation flares to 6%. An update of the World Economic Outlook is due in July. The US-Israel war on Iran has engulfed the Middle East in violence, with Tehran&#39;s retaliatory action targeting Washington&#39;s regional allies and virtually blocking the Strait of Hormuz. The key waterway normally sees about a fifth of global oil and gas supplies pass through it, and the blockade has seen energy prices skyrocket worldwide. The IMF was in &quot;active discussions&quot; with member states over their needs, and &quot;many countries are actually asking us for support in the policy area,&quot; said Kozack. During the IMF&#39;s spring meetings last month, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said as many as 12 countries could require financial assistance from the Fund, with $20-50 billion required in total. Kozack said that discussions on that financial assistance were continuing, but that the Fund was not yet prepared to disclose which specific countries were involved. The IMF spokesperson also warned of the risks to food security due to the war, with a third of the world&#39;s fertilizer supply also stopped due to the blockade. &quot;We know from history that when fertilizer prices increase, that it takes about six months or so for this to translate into increased food prices and, in some cases, reductions in yields and food security issues,&quot; she said.

In the "adverse" scenario, where oil prices remain higher for longer, inflation expectations become less stable and financial conditions tighten, growth would slow to 2.5%, the Fund said at the time.

IMF sees risks to global growth forecast over sustained Iran war

Web Desk

China's President Xi Jinping (L) looks at US President Donald Trump as they attend a state banquet at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14, 2026. (AFP)

US president says President Xi offered China's help to open the strait, pledges not to send military equipment to aid Iran; Iranian media reports that naval forces allowed Chinese ships to pass through Hormuz; Israel, Lebanon to open new round of peace talks in Washington.




Day 76: All you need to know about US-Israel war on Iran

LONDON: Oil prices fell, and global stock markets traded mixed on Thursday, awaiting an update on a US plan to end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. After plunging more than 10 per cent at one point on Wednesday on hopes of peace, crude futures fell nearly another 4 per cent. The benchmark international oil contract, Brent Crude, was back under $100 per barrel. European stock markets declined after big gains the previous session, while leading Asian markets climbed. Tokyo soared 5.6 percent, which largely reflected the resumption of trading in Japan after the country&#39;s public holidays this week. &quot;The wild streak of enthusiasm which hit markets amid hopes for a major de-escalation in the Iran conflict is tempering,&quot; noted Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club. &quot;There&#39;s a realisation that there are more hurdles to climb for a longer-term resolution to be agreed, even though Iran is reported to be studying a US peace proposal aimed at formally ending the conflict.&quot; US President Donald Trump said an agreement could be near after positive talks, with Iran adding that it would pass on its latest position to mediator Pakistan. The war, launched by the United States and Israel in late February, has seen Iran respond with attacks across the Middle East and impose a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway to the Gulf oil and gas industries and a strategic trade route. In foreign exchange on Thursday, the dollar lost some of its safe-haven support. Investors in Tokyo were closely watching the yen after speculation of intervention by the Japanese government to prop up the beleaguered currency. Norway&#39;s central bank on Thursday hiked its guiding rate by a quarter point to 4.25 percent, citing a risk that the war in the Middle East could worsen already elevated inflation. &quot;Inflation is too high and has run above target for several years,&quot; Norges Bank governor Ida Wolden Bache said in a statement. Earnings boostAway from the war, there has been a fresh wave of cash pumped into the technology sector as traders snap up all things artificial intelligence, helped by standout earnings from Apple, Google parent Alphabet, Microsoft and Samsung during the ongoing first-quarter reporting season. &quot;It does feel as if US stock indices are in a melt-up phase,&quot; said Trade Nation analyst David Morrison, using an expression for a situation when a large of amount of money is invested in stocks in a short period of time. Both the S&amp;P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite set fresh all-time highs as trading got underway, even if they only edged higher. &quot;FOMO (fear of missing out) is playing an important role here, yet it&#39;s difficult to work out what could trigger a significant pullback,&quot; said Morrison. &quot;That in itself is a concern.&quot; Emirates Group on Thursday announced a three-percent rise in annual profits to $5.7 billion despite severe disruption to flights owing to the war. Key figures at around 1330 GMTBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 3.7 percent at $97.50 a barrel West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 3.9 percent at $91.37 a barrel New York - DOW: UP 0.4 percent at 50,109.76 points New York - S&amp;P 500: UP 0.1 percent at 7,373.25 New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 25,877.65 London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8 percent at 10,355.47 Paris - CAC 40: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 8,293.01 Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.2 percent at 24,867.36 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 5.6 percent at 62,833.84 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.6 percent at 26,626.28 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 4,180.09 (close) Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1774 from $1.1752 on Wednesday Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3625 from $1.3594 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 156.30 yen from 156.39 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.43 pence from 86.45 pence

Customers refuel their vehicles at a gas station of Nayara Energy Limited, in Bengaluru on December 12, 2025. (File photo: AFP)

After plunging more than 10 per cent at one point on Wednesday on hopes of peace, crude futures fall nearly another 4 percent.

Oil prices drop awaiting Mideast peace progress

Says negotiations are taking place via telephone calls with Islamabad; Iran judiciary chief says Tehran open to US talks but against policy 'imposition'; Israeli forces continue to destroy towns across southern Lebanon.


Day 63: All you need to know about US-Israel war on Iran

Supreme leader Khamenei says US has been defeated in its war on Tehran; Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian says 'any attempt to impose a maritime blockade or restrictions is contrary to international law ... and is doomed to fail'; US President Donald Trump says Tehran's navy is "at the bottom of the sea."

Day 62: All you need to know about US-Israel war on Iran

HONG KONG, China: Equities fell and oil prices rose Thursday amid continuing US-Iran tensions. Investors have spent most of the week upbeat that a breakthrough to end the seven-week conflict will be made soon, while healthy earnings and a resumption of the AI trade has also provided support. Crude prices jumped as much as four percent in early Asian business after global security monitors and Iran&#39;s Revolutionary Guards said Iranian forces had seized two ships and fired on a third in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has said vessels must seek permission to leave or enter the Gulf through the waterway, which in peacetime accounts for around a fifth of the world&#39;s oil and gas exports along with other vital commodities. However, the White House said Donald Trump did not consider the move to be a ceasefire violation because the vessels are not American or Israeli. Meanwhile, Iran&#39;s parliament speaker said the Islamic republic would not reopen the Strait as long as the US naval blockade remained, calling it a &quot;blatant violation&quot; of the two countries&#39; ceasefire. &quot;A complete ceasefire only has meaning if it is not violated through a naval blockade... Reopening the Strait of Hormuz is not possible amid a blatant violation of the ceasefire,&quot; speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on X. Still, Trump&#39;s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said he &quot;has not set a firm deadline to receive an Iranian proposal&quot; for talks. &quot;Ultimately, the timeline will be dictated by the commander in chief,&quot; she told journalists. Oil prices Oil prices remained elevated Thursday, with Brent holding above $100 following a surge to more than $106 in the morning. Equities fell, though, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Taipei, Mumbai, Bangkok and Wellington all down. But Seoul rose to a new record thanks to a fresh rally in the tech sector that has been the backbone of a surge in the Kospi index this year.&nbsp;London and Frankfurt fell but Paris edged up.&nbsp; &quot;Whether it&#39;s conflict fatigue or confidence that the conflict between the US and Iran will be resolved soon, there is limited evidence that the rise in the oil price dampened bond and equity markets,&quot; said National Australia Bank&#39;s Skye Masters. However, she added that the Washington Post had reported a senior Defense Department warned it could take six months to fully clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines and that such an operation would probably not unlikely start before the end of the war. Financial markets &quot;It is questionable whether financial markets are correctly pricing the reality that supply constraints will remain an issue for some time,&quot; she wrote. Raphael Olszyna-Marzys, of Bank J Safra Sarasin, added: &quot;Financial markets are pricing a high likelihood that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will soon normalize. &quot;Our game-theory model suggests that a narrow agreement to reopen the strait is in both parties&#39; best interests. This outcome remains our base case. But it also reveals that a misreading of the other party&#39;s intentions could lead to a further ratcheting-up of tensions before we get there.&quot; Investors took some heart from strong earnings reports, with South Korean chip titan SK hynix posting a nearly 400% jump in net profit that hit a record for January-March thanks to the artificial intelligence boom. That came after Tesla announced forecast-topping first-quarter profits and Texas Instruments offered a healthy outlook. Bloomberg said almost 80% of the S&amp;P 500 firms that have reported first-quarter earnings had beaten analyst estimates so far. Key figures at 0810 GMT West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.8% at $93.74 a barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.0% at $102.92 a barrelTokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8% at 59,140.23 (close)Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.0% at 25,915.20Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.3% at 4,093.25 (close)London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3% at 10,442.71Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1700 from $1.1709 on WednesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3488 from $1.3506Dollar/yen: DOWN at 159.63 yen from 159.49 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.76 pence from 86.70 pence

Crude prices jumped as much as four percent in early Asian business after global security monitors and Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Iranian forces had seized two ships and fired on a third in the Strait of Hormuz.

Articles tagged with "International Oil Prices"