Asian shares mostly rose in Wednesday trading, echoing the rally on Wall Street that came as oil prices eased on hopes the United States and Iran may try again on talks to end their war. Benchmarks in Europe were little changed in early trading.
France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.7% in early trading to 8,268.60, while the German DAX was up less than 0.1% at 24,046.01. Britain’s FTSE 100 inched up less than 0.1% to 10,611.74. US shares were set to trade in a narrow range, with Dow futures slipping nearly 0.1% to 48,727.00. S&P 500 futures inched up less than 0.1% to 7,007.25.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.4% to finish at 58,134.24. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed, inching up less than 0.1% to 8,978.70. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.1% to 6,091.39. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.3% to 25,947.32, while the Shanghai Composite added less than 0.1% to 4,027.21.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell 33 cents to $90.95 a barrel. Brent crude added 24 cents to $94.99. While that’s still above its roughly $70 price from before the war began in late February, it’s well below the peak level of $119.
