New York (AFP) – Global stock markets mostly rose Monday while oil prices climbed after US President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s terms for ending the war in the Middle East. Following a soft start, Wall Street’s three main indices finished a meandering session modestly higher as traders continued to shrug off the war.
“Basically the market has decided that geopolitics are just background noise right now,” said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers, who characterized the market as “very momentum-driven right now.” In Europe, London and Frankfurt rose while Paris fell, pulled down by luxury shares following an analyst report that warned of weak growth opportunities for the sector.
The stalemate between the United States and Iran dashed investors’ hopes of an imminent peace deal and heightened concerns over further violence and disruptions to oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump described Tehran’s response to the latest US outline for peace talks as “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE” in a social media post. Iran said it had demanded the release of its frozen assets and the end of a US blockade of its ports.
Oil prices spiked more than four percent following the exchange, before easing. Brent oil futures finished up almost three percent at $104.21 a barrel. “The price of oil remains highly reactive to news around the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, both positive and negative,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB.
But Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare said traders see Trump as unlikely to aggravate the oil supply situation ahead of his summit meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this week. Beijing has said it is ready to work with Washington in pursuit of “more stability” as the two countries remain at odds over key issues including trade tariffs, the Middle East war, and Taiwan.
In Asia, Tokyo stocks fell, Hong Kong was little changed, and Shanghai jumped more than one percent, while Seoul climbed around four percent, supported by a rally in tech stocks. A tech-led surge driven by strong quarterly earnings and optimism about artificial intelligence has pushed several markets to record highs despite the Mideast crisis. In Tokyo, Nintendo shares plunged almost 10 percent after the Japanese gaming giant warned Friday of lower profits this year and said it would raise the price of its Switch 2 console.
– Key figures at around 2010 GMT –
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.9 percent at $104.21 a barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.8 percent at $98.07 a barrel
New York – DOW: UP 0.2 percent at 49,704.47 (close)
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 7,412.83 (close)
New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 26,274.13 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 10,269.43 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.7 percent at 8,056.38 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX 30: UP 0.1 percent at 24,350.28 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.5 percent at 62,417.88 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.1 percent at 26,406.84 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.1 percent at 4,225.02 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1775 from $1.1787 on Friday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3628 from $1.3631
Dollar/yen: UP at 157.23 from 156.68 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.40 pence from 86.39 pence
burs-jmb/dw
© 2024 AFP
