HONG KONG, Mar 25: Oil prices fell more than 5 per cent and Asian shares gained on Wednesday over possibilities of a de-escalation of the Iran war and negotiations between the United States and Iran.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was up 2.8 per cent to 53,721.30 in early trading. South Korea’s Kospi gained 3.1 per cent to 5,728.22.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.2 per cent to 25,374.95, while the Shanghai Composite index was 0.9 per cent higher at 3,914.09.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 2.2 per cent. Taiwan’s Taiex was up 3 per cent.
The administration of US President Donald Trump is said to have offered a 15-point ceasefire plan to Iran.
Trump’s claims of progress being made from talks with Iran this week and his postponement on Monday of a deadline to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz have also fuelled optimism that an end to the Iran war could come soon.
With the Strait of Hormuz being a key waterway for crude oil and liquefied natural gas transport, oil and gas prices have spiked and fluctuated in recent days.
Oil prices fell again on rising hopes for a de-escalation. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 5.9 per cent to USD 94.42 per barrel. It was around USD 104 on Tuesday.
Benchmark US crude was down 5.1 per cent early Wednesday to USD 87.65 a barrel.
While Iran has denied negotiations were taking place, and attacks in the Middle East continued, Pakistan has offered to host talks between Washington and Tehran.
And as Trump raised optimism of a de-escalation of the war, at least 1,000 more American troops from the 82nd Airborne Division are said to be deployed to the Middle East in the coming days.
US futures were up more than 0.5 per cent on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, US stocks closed lower. The S&P 500 lost 0.4 per cent to 6,556.37. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.2 per cent to 46,124.06, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.8 per cent lower to 21,761.89.
Shares of Estee Lauder sank more than 9 per cent, following confirmation that the US-listed company is in merger talks with Spanish beauty and perfume group Puig.
In other dealings early Wednesday, gold prices resumed its rise after falling earlier. It dropped in part because of rising US Treasury yields over dimming expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut after the spike in oil prices threatened to fuel global inflation.
Gold’s price jumped 4.4 per cent early Wednesday to USD 4,594,60 per ounce. It was above USD 5,000 earlier this month.
The US dollar was trading at 158.70 Japanese yen, which was mostly unchanged. The euro was trading at USD 1.1611, up from USD 1.1608. (AP)
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