Asian shares jumped and the price of crude oil was holding above $100 a barrel on Thursday as investors bet on hopes the U.S. and Iran will strike a deal allowing tankers to deliver crude from the Persian Gulf again.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index jumped 4.6% to 62,243.88, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 1.2% to 26,531.35.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia was up 1.2% at 8,870.90.
In South Korea, the Kospi slipped 1.4% to 7,281.37 and traders sold to lock in profits after the benchmark jumped nearly 7% a day earlier to barrel past 7,000 for the first time.
Taiwan’s Taiex surged 1.7%.
On Wednesday, markets rallied worldwide after President Donald Trump said the Strait of Hormuz could be “OPEN TO ALL” if Iran accepts a reported agreement that the U.S. president did not detail.
Oil prices fell nearly 8% and the S&P 500 climbed 1.5% for its best day in nearly a month, setting a fresh record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.2%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 2%.
Early Thursday in Asian trading, Brent crude oil rose $1.06 to $102.29 a barrel, while U.S. benchmark crude oil gained $1.20 to $96.28 a barrel.
Oil prices sank Wednesday, and stock markets rallied worldwide with hopes that the United States and Iran are nearing a deal to allow ships to deliver crude through the Strait of Hormuz.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell 7.8% to $101.27, down from more than $115 early this week.
The effective closure of the strait due to the war has caused big trouble for the global economy because the conflict has blocked oil tankers from using it to exit the Persian Gulf. A reopening could allow oil to flow freely again and remove pressure on inflation that’s driving prices up for all kinds of products worldwide.
The price of Brent crude fell below $97 a barrel but then pushed above $100 after Trump threatened to start bombing “at a much higher level and intensity” if Iran does not accept the agreement.
U.S. stocks remained resilient despite the war thanks partly to strong profit reports by big U.S. companies for the start of 2026.
Chipmaker AMD helped lead the market Wednesday with a surge of 18.6% after it joined the list of big-name companies topping expectations for both profit and revenue. Its CEO Lisa Su said AMD benefited from continued growth from artificial-intelligence technology, which is demanding tremendous amounts of computing power from data centers.
Super Micro Computer, rallied 24.5% after likewise delivering stronger earnings than analysts expected. Nvidia, the chip company that became the poster child of the AI boom, rose 5.7% and was the single strongest force lifting the S&P 500 because of its immense size.
CVS Health climbed 7.6% after delivering better results for the first quarter than analysts expected and raising its financial forecasts for the full year. The Walt Disney Co. gained 7.5% after saying its “Zootopia 2” movie helped draw people to its streaming business, parks and cruise ships, while delivering a better-than-expected profit. Uber Technologies drove 8.5% higher after giving a bookings forecast for the spring that was higher than analysts expected.
Outside of earnings reports, companies with big fuel bills jumped on hopes that oil prices will continue to ease. That included gains of 6.8% for United Airlines, 6.8% for Carnival and 8.8% for Royal Caribbean.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 105.90 points to 7,365.12. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 612.34 to 49,910.59, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 512.82 to 25,838.94.
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AP Business Writers Stan Choe and Matt Ott contributed.
