Asian markets mixed as Brent crude slips below $100
Asian shares were mixed Wednesday after Wall Street held near its record and oil prices fell following US President Donald Trump's remarks that United States and Iranian officials had a “very good” meeting Tuesday on the sidelines at the United Nations.
US futures were higher.
South Korea's Kospi rose 0.5% to 7,052.75. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.8% to 24,896.04. The Shanghai Composite index slid 0.4% to 3,938.08. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3% to 8,779.80.
Taiwan's Taiex was 0.6% higher, while India's Sensex was up 0.3%.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was closed on Wednesday for a holiday and will resume trading Thursday.
Oil prices fell and remained below $100 a barrel on Tuesday after Trump said US and Iranian officials met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York following his threat during an address to the annual gathering that the US might “annihilate” the Islamic Republic if a deal couldn't be made.
“Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world,” Trump said. “Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?”
Brent crude, the international standard, was down 0.9% to $98.40 per barrel. That was still elevated compared to the roughly $72 per barrel level from late February before the Iran war.
Technology stocks in Asia were volatile on Wednesday but some traded higher after US technology shares gained. Samsung Electronics rose 2.6%, while South Korean memory chipmaker SK Hynix added 0.4%. Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, was up 1.2%.
Investors have been monitoring the debate in the US over whether to slow down artificial intelligence development, while AI is also expected to be high on the agenda when Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington this week.
On Tuesday, Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 edged down less than 0.1% and remained near its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.4%, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 0.5% and closed at a record high.
Major US technology stocks climbed. Nvidia shares climbed 0.7%, Advanced Micro Devices, or AMD, rose 1.3%. Broadcom added 0.5%, and Intel gained 1.7%.
In other dealings, the US dollar rose to 157.59 Japanese yen from 157.39 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1427, down from $1.1449.
