Stocks in Asia jumped on Wednesday as President Trump said the U.S. military would wind down its campaign in Iran, while the price of oil continued to rise.
In the United States, the S&P 500 turned in its best day in nearly a year on Tuesday.
Stocks rally.
-
Stocks in Asia, taking a cue from the American markets, rose on Wednesday. The Nikkei 225 in Japan was up more than 4 percent and the Kospi index in South Korea, which has experienced particularly drastic swings, surged 8 percent. Stocks in Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China were also higher.
-
Futures on the S&P 500 pointed to a slight increase when stocks resume trading in the United States on Wednesday.
Oil rises.
-
The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, was about $105 a barrel, up about 1 percent.
-
There’s a quirk in tracking oil prices. Oil trades mostly on the futures market, and prices are agreed to ahead of time via monthly contracts. On Tuesday, the most heavily traded contract was for May, and price of Brent settled at $118.35, the highest level since the war. But that contract expired on Tuesday. The focus of trading has now shifted further out to June.
-
West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, was around $103 a barrel on Wednesday, up about 1.5 percent.
-
Investors and analysts are focused on the Strait of Hormuz. The narrow waterway between Iran and Oman is a vital trading route for oil and natural gas that normally carries as much as one-fifth of the world’s oil supply. Shipping traffic exiting the Persian Gulf through the strait has been effectively halted since the war began.
Gasoline prices topped $4.
-
U.S. gasoline prices rose on Tuesday, jumping to a national average of just over $4 a gallon, according to the AAA motor club. The cost for drivers has risen by 35 percent since the war began.
-
Gas prices don’t move in lock step with crude, usually trailing increases or drops by a few days.
-
Diesel prices have increased even more quickly and stood at $5.42 on Tuesday, up 44 percent since the start of the war.
The post Stocks in Asia Rally and Oil Prices Rise appeared first on New York Times.
