New York (AFP) – Global stock markets were mixed Monday and oil prices rose while investors digested shifting developments in the Middle East as US President Donald Trump said he postponed a planned attack on Iran at the request of Gulf leaders.
Oil prices had briefly turned lower following an Iranian media report that said American officials had agreed to suspend sanctions against its crude while talks on ending the war continue. But with no confirmation of the report, as well as Iranian statements on taxing travel through the strait, oil prices quickly began rising again. US equity indices gyrated between positive and negative territory, ending the day mixed.
“It feels very tenuous right now,” said Tom Siomades, chief market economist at AE Wealth Management. “Obviously the Iran stuff on a daily basis is driving everything.”
Earlier, Iran said it had responded to a new US proposal aimed at ending the war. On Sunday, Iran’s Fars news agency said Washington had presented a five-point list, which included a demand for Iran to keep only one nuclear site in operation and transfer its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to the United States.
On Monday afternoon, Trump, who had given Iran a series of increasingly ominous warnings in recent days, said on social media that he would “hold off on our planned military attack of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was scheduled for tomorrow.” The US president said he had been asked to do so by the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates as “serious negotiations are now taking place.”
Siomades described US markets as veering between geopolitics and sentiment on tech companies and earnings, saying “the winds just shift so quickly.” Elsewhere, European stock markets ended the day higher. Traders also have their eye on bond yields, analysts said. Government bond yields have risen worldwide in recent trading sessions as more investors start to question if inflation will begin eroding economic growth while pressuring deficits.
All eyes are on Wednesday’s quarterly results from US chip titan Nvidia, which will be scrutinized as investors question whether huge spending on AI data centres is justified by potential returns.
In Asia, the Seoul stock market, which has hit record highs in recent days thanks to the artificial intelligence spending boom, ended the day 0.3 percent higher. In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 fell, but shares in memory chip maker Kioxia soared 16 percent following stellar quarterly results on Friday. Kioxia, the world’s third-largest producer of NAND flash memory chips, which are used as storage in AI data centers, has seen its stock surge nearly 300 percent over the past year. The company has forecast an eye-watering 1.3 trillion yen ($8.2 billion) in operating profit for April-June, saying it is “riding the large wave of AI demand, which has led to record high revenue and profits.”
– Key figures at around 2015 GMT –
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.6 percent at $112.10 a barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 3.1 percent at $108.66 a barrel
New York – DOW: UP 0.3 percent at 49,686.12 (close)
New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,403.05 (close)
New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 0.5 percent at 26,090.73 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 1.3 percent at 10,323.75 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 7,987.49 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX 30: UP 1.5 percent at 24,307.92 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.0 percent at 60,815.95 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.1 percent at 25,675.18 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 4,131.53 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1650 from $1.1625 on Friday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3422 from $1.3326
Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.77 pence from 87.24 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 158.93 yen from 158.74 yen
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© 2024 AFP
