Samsung Electronics jumps 4.6%, lifting South Korea’s Kospi 1.5%
Asian markets turned in a mixed session Tuesday, with South Korea’s Kospi climbing 1.5% to 6,391.71 as shares of market heavyweight Samsung Electronics jumped 4.6%. Memory chipmaker SK Hynix advanced 1.3%, and markets in Tokyo were closed for a holiday.
Oil prices held steady after jumping the day before, as uncertainty persisted over when the Strait of Hormuz could reopen and get the global flow of crude going again. Brent crude was unchanged at $87.72 a barrel, and U.S. benchmark crude was flat at $82.13 a barrel.
Brent surged 5% on Monday. The benchmark swung between $72 and $102 a barrel last month as hopes rose and fell that the United States and Iran could reach an agreement that would allow oil tankers to freely exit the Middle East again and deliver crude worldwide.
Stocks across Asia wavered after the U.S. market edged away from its all-time highs, while U.S. futures edged higher. The day’s steady prices left the strait’s reopening the outstanding question for the global flow of crude.