Global shares mostly gained on Wednesday and oil prices fell as hopes rose for progress in ending the war with Iran.
France’s CAC 40 added 1.6% to 8,192.68, while the Germany DAX rose 1.5% to 24,767.57. Britain’s FTSE 100 surged 1.9% to 10,408.98. U.S. futures gained 0.6%.
News that Iranian officials were traveling to China ahead of a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping lifted market sentiment.
Trump said he was pausing a US effort to guide stranded ships out of the Strait of Hormuz to allow space for finalizing a deal with Iran on ending the war. The American forces’ blockade of Iranian ports remains in place.
In Asian trading, South Korea’s Kospi gained 6.5% to 7,384.56, surpassing the 7,000 level for the first time. Samsung Electronics’ stock jumped 14% in a rally driven by expectations of strong growth in artificial intelligence.
Shares in SK Hynix, another major Korean computer chipmaker, shot up nearly 11%. Both Samsung and SK Hynix are major manufacturers of the memory chips vital for AI applications.
Tokyo trading was closed for a holiday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.3% to 8,793.60. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.2% to 26,213.78, while the Shanghai Composite index rose 1.2% to 4,160.17.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude slipped $3.55 to $98.72 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost $3.43 to $106.44 a barrel, extending declines that erased big jumps earlier in the week. The prices still remain well above their roughly $70 price before the war with Iran began.
A ceasefire with Iran is in effect, U.S. military leaders say, although uncertainties clearly remain. The US military is trying to force open a path in the Strait of Hormuz, which would allow oil tankers to resume shipments from the Persian Gulf.
In currency trading, the US dollar inched down to 156.18 Japanese yen from 157.89 yen. The euro cost $1.1752, up from $1.1693.
