Oil prices hold steady after jumping 5%, while Asian shares are mixed
BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mixed in Asia, while oil prices were holding steady Tuesday after jumping the day before as uncertainty persisted over when the Strait of Hormuz could reopen…
Oil prices remained unchanged on Tuesday after surging 5% the previous day, while shares across Asia were mixed due to continued uncertainty about when the Strait of Hormuz would reopen, allowing global crude shipments to resume. U.S. financial futures rose marginally. Brent crude oil and U.S. benchmark crude were both flat at $87.72 and $82.13 per barrel, respectively.
The price of Brent oil had risen 5% on Monday. During the month, it had fluctuated between $72 and $102 as hopes for an agreement between the United States and Iran regarding unrestricted oil tanker movement through the Middle East wavered. South Korean stocks ended the day higher, with the Kospi index gaining 1.5% to 6,391.71 points, driven by a 4.6% surge in Samsung Electronics shares.
Memory chip producer SK Hynix also climbed 1.3%. The Tokyo market observed a holiday, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.6% to 25,773.56, and China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.1% to 3,964.79. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.5% to 9,277.00 after the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to maintain its benchmark interest rate at 4.35%.
Taiwan's Taiex index edged up 0.4%, and India's Sensex index fell 0.4%. On Monday, the S&P 500 index had slipped 0.1% from its record set the previous Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite index both declined by 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively. The recent stock market rally, fueled by booming profits for U.S. companies, has begun to slow.
Anticipated earnings per share for S&P 500 companies for the spring are projected to have increased by 50% compared to the previous year, according to FactSet data. This would mark the highest growth since five years ago, when the economy was recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Berkshire Hathaway, renowned for its investment strategy of acquiring stocks at what it perceives as undervalued prices, experienced a 1.5% increase.
The company, led by investor Warren Buffett, has recently reported stronger-than-expected profits for the last quarter and announced plans to invest some of its vast cash reserves in additional stocks following the appointment of its new CEO, Greg Abel.
Written by urgent.news from Associated Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
