Tokyo (AFP) – Oil prices rose in Asian trade on Monday after US President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s terms for ending the war in the Middle East, while stocks were mixed. Trump’s repudiation of Iran’s response to his latest peace proposal raised the likelihood of further violence and disruptions to oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.
“I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called ‘Representatives.’ I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” said Trump, who is due in China this week where the war will likely loom large in discussions. “We will never bow down to the enemy, and if there is talk of dialogue or negotiation, it does not mean surrender or retreat,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Sunday on X.
“President Trump’s swift rejection of these counter-demands underscores the wide gulf between both sides, pointing to a risk of prolonged uncertainty rather than rapid de-escalation,” said Lloyd Chan at Japanese bank MUFG. “For oil markets, this suggests a persistent geopolitical risk premium as Hormuz disruptions drag on,” Chan said.
Stocks were mixed, with the Nikkei down 0.4 percent and the Hang Seng off 0.34 percent, but Seoul’s Kopsi was up four percent, boosted by tech stocks. In Tokyo, Nintendo shares plunged almost 10 percent after the Japanese gaming giant warned Friday of lower profits this year and said it would hike the price of its Switch 2 console.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was due in Japan and South Korea before heading to China for Trump’s high-stakes summit with President Xi Jinping, which Beijing on Monday confirmed would take place Wednesday to Friday. In Japan, Bessent was set to meet Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday, with Tokyo’s reported recent market interventions to support the yen likely a talking point.
In Seoul, the treasury secretary said he would meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. “Economic security is national security,” Bessent said on X. While Washington and Beijing slapped tit-for-tat tariffs on each other’s exports a year ago, Trump and Xi agreed on a year-long trade truce in October in South Korea.
– Key figures at around 0330 GMT –
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 4.75 percent at $99.95 a barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 4.16 percent at $105.50 a barrel
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.36 percent at 62,486.84
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.34 percent at 26,303.16
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.89 percent at 4,216.96
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1758 from $1.1779 on Friday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3592 from $1.3625
Dollar/yen: UP at 157.14 from 156.76 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.50 pence from 86.45 pence
New York – DOW: FLAT at 49,609.16 (close)
burs-stu/fox
© 2024 AFP
