Brent crude rises to $96.95
Asian shares opened the week on a divided footing, with semiconductor-heavy benchmarks in Tokyo and Seoul rallying while oil prices climbed on further escalation in the U.S.-Iran conflict.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 1.7% to close at 66,104.93, and South Korea’s Kospi jumped 3.3% to 6,907.53, both propelled by buying of computer chipmakers’ stocks. Shares in Samsung Electronics rose 4.5%, and memory chipmaker SK Hynix surged 6.2%.
“The AI complex continues to provide the local equity markets with its most dependable growth pulse,” Stephen Innes, a former trader, said about the Asian markets. He added: “The AI complex is firmly in the leadership seat and reminding investors that, for all the hand-wringing around valuation, the hardware trade is still refusing to roll over.”
Elsewhere in the region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.1% to 25,377.12, while the Shanghai Composite shed 0.2% to 3,920.70. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was virtually unchanged at 9,005.30.
In energy markets, Brent crude, the international benchmark, added 67 cents to $96.95 a barrel. The AP attributed the move to further escalation of what it described as the six-month-long U.S. war with Iran.