Asian shares mostly gain as oil rises on Iran supply doubts

Kospi jumps 4% on renewed buying of chipmakers

Asian shares were mostly higher Wednesday after U.S. stocks slipped a bit further from their records. Oil prices advanced in early trading as doubts persisted over when the war with Iran will allow crude to flow freely again.

South Korea’s Kospi led the advance, jumping 4% to 6,597.90 on renewed buying of computer chipmakers. Samsung Electronics gained 7.7%, and memory chipmaker SK Hynix rose 7.1%.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.6% to 67,334.94, and Taiwan’s Taiex advanced 0.8%. The Shanghai Composite added 0.3% to 3,946.51. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 1.2% to 25,352.13, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.6% to 9,197.00.

Brent crude, the international standard, rose 0.9% to $89.67 a barrel early Wednesday, and U.S. benchmark crude gained 0.9% to $83.98. The gains came as doubts persisted over when the war with Iran will allow crude to flow freely again.

Iran has rejected President Donald Trump’s comment that, since Iran is seeking compensation as part of any talks on ending the war, he would demand the same.