Oil prices fall for sixth session on Saudi supply, Iran talks

Asian tech shares gain on AI wave; dollar hits two-month high

Oil prices fell for a sixth session on Wednesday, with Brent crude down about $1 at $98.32 a barrel, after closing below $100 a barrel the previous day for the first time in more than two weeks. The drop came on reports of increased supply from the Middle East and hopes of progress in talks between the US and Iran. If the downward move is sustained over the day, the six-day declines would be the longest losing run for oil since August 2025, according to Bloomberg.

Reuters reported, citing sources, that Saudi Arabia has restarted operations at its east-west pipeline and may have already resumed exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu. The pipeline carries crude from Saudi Arabia’s eastern oil fields to the Red Sea coast.

President Donald Trump talked of progress in talks with Iran while in New York, but also threatened to “annihilate” the country if there was no deal. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was scheduled to address the UN General Assembly later on Wednesday and, according to reports, may meet with the US president on the assembly’s margins.

Chinese President Xi Jinping was expected in Washington later in the day for talks with Trump, with speculation that a trade truce between the US and China will be extended and hopes the two leaders can agree a cooperation deal over artificial intelligence. Trump commented on AI in his UN speech, calling it “super intelligence” and rejecting any attempts to control it.

Asian stock markets rose for a sixth session outside China, riding the artificial intelligence wave. South Korea’s Kospi gained nearly 0.7% and the Taiwan stock market rose 0.75%, while Japanese markets were closed for the silver holiday. China’s CSI 300 fell 0.5%. European and US stock futures pointed to a higher open.

There has been strong uptake of Meta’s new personal Muse agent, which has sat at the top of US app download charts since its launch a fortnight ago.

The dollar climbed to a two-month high on expectations of interest rate hikes soon. Sterling dipped 0.2% to $1.3316, while the euro eased to its weakest level since July, falling 0.2% to $1.1423.

Wednesday’s economic calendar includes flash manufacturing PMI releases from the eurozone at 9am BST, the United Kingdom at 9:30am BST, and the United States at 2:45pm BST.