South Korea’s Kospi index was down 3% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 1%.
Contracts for the S&P 500 Index climbed 0.5% and those for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 0.6%. The gains came after the US and Iran agreed to halt strikes and meet this week in Qatar to resume talks over the Strait of Hormuz and other issues to end the war, Axios reported, citing an unidentified US official.
a sense of caution prevailed as Brent crude jumped as much as 1.9% to over $73 a barrel, before paring gains to trade around $72.10. The Middle East conflict had intensified since Thursday, with Iran striking a container ship, a vessel carrying Qatari oil, and military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, prompting multiple US retaliatory strikes.
Treasury futures edged lower with Australian and New Zealand bonds as higher oil prices rekindled inflation concerns. The dollar was steady against its major peers, while gold dropped 0.8% to $4,055 an ounce.
Hopes for a lasting peace between the US and Iran and optimism over the tech trade have put global stocks on track for their best quarter since 2020. While a strong first half is typically a good sign for the rest of the year, investors are grappling with a series of risks, from the durability of the artificial intelligence trade to the threat of rising interest rates as well as accelerating government spending.
Attention in Asia on Monday will be on South Korea. Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Group are set to announce major investment plans alongside the policy initiatives. The two groups’ investments may total over $1.3 trillion over the next 10 years, Korea Economic Daily reported.
This week, traders will be focused on the annual central banker confab at Sintra, Portugal with speakers including Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh. A series of US jobs reports, including the key nonfarm payrolls, will also be in focus as expectations mount a resilient US economy and inflation pressures may spur the Fed to hike interest rates as early as September.
With inputs from Bloomberg
