Oil Rises, Asia Stocks Mixed as U.S.-Iran Peace Hopes Dim -- Update

By Ronnie Harui and Megan Cheah

Oil prices rose Monday in Asia as a setback to U.S.-Iran peace talk hopes revived concerns over crude supply disruptions in the Middle East.

Tehran has responded to Washington's latest U.S. proposal, saying it would allow for the gradual opening of the Strait of Hormuz, but President Trump called the reply "unacceptable."

The remarks, made on social media over the weekend, could revive tensions in the strait, a crucial waterway for global energy shipping that has been blocked due to the fighting.

"This development has reversed some of the optimism seen during the previous week," Commerzbank Research analysts said.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures briefly crossed the $100 a barrel mark yet again in the Asia session, and were last 4.6% higher at $99.81 a barrel, ICE data showed. Front-month Brent was up 4.0% at $105.31 a barrel.

Asian equity markets were mixed as investors monitored the U.S.-Iran developments while digesting a flurry of corporate earnings.

Continued gains in artificial intelligence-related stocks helped buoy some tech-heavy indexes.

War headlines don't seem to be bothering AI investors anymore, said Ipek Ozkardeskaya at Swissquote, pointing to another milestone for South Korea's Kospi, which had been one of the most oil price-sensitive indexes.

The Kospi rose 4.3% to a fresh record high as shares of memory-chip giant SK Hynix scaled a new peak.

In China, the Nasdaq-esque ChiNext Price Index was hovering near all-time highs, up 3.3% and on track for its stronger close in over a decade.

Tech stocks powered gains in the Shenzhen Composite Index too, and it is also on the path to its best finish in 11 years. The Shanghai benchmark was up 1.0%.

Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gave up early gains to end 0.5% lower, while Australia's also lost 0.5%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was last trading flat.

Gold was down 1.0% at $4,665.11 as markets parsed fresh data pointing to higher inflation. Bitcoin showed resilience, remaining firmly above the closely watched $80,000 level.

While peace-deal optimism is fading, there remains a glimmer of hope that an upcoming summit between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping could yield results on Iran, ING strategists wrote in a note.

"The hope is that China can use its influence over Iran to push it closer towards a peace deal," they said. "Clearly, this is easier said than done."

Write to Ronnie Harui at [e-mail] and Megan Cheah at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-11-26 0302ET