Asian stocks fall and oil prices rise again as Middle East war shows no signs of relenting

Oil prices continue to fluctuate as Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway through which a fifth of the world’s crude typically passes, remains shut
Asian stocks mostly fell and oil prices gained on Thursday as a de-escalation of the American-Israeli war on Iran remained uncertain.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was trading 0.3 per cent lower at 53,607, while South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.9 per cent to 5,537.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.4 per cent to 24,979, while the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.6 per cent to 3,909.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged down 0.2 per cent.

Taiwan’s Taiex, on the other hand, was trading 0.4 per cent higher.

Oil prices were up again on Thursday after an earlier dip.

Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1.3 per cent to $98.51 per barrel.

It was below $95 on Wednesday.

Benchmark US crude was 1.6 per cent higher at $91.75 a barrel.

The rise in oil prices came as Iran on Wednesday dismissed a ceasefire plan by the US.

Washington had offered a 15-point proposal to Iran and president Donald Trump had delayed a self-imposed deadline to “obliterate” its power plants in order to force Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz .

Iran also conducted more attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries after Israel launched airstrikes on Tehran and the US prepared to deploy more troops to the region.

As the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway between Iran and Oman through which a fifth of the world’s oil typically passes, remains shut, oil prices continue to fluctuate, climbing around 40 per cent since the beginning of the war, which is now in its fourth week.

On Wednesday, Wall Street stocks closed higher.

The S&P 500 gained 0.5 per cent to 6,591.90.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.7 per cent to 46,429.49, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.8 per cent to 21,929.83.

On Holding, the Swiss sportswear company selling On running shoes, fell 11.2 per cent in the US.

Its CEO Martin Hoffmann has announced his resignation and the company has named two co-founders as co-CEOs.

In other dealings early on Thursday, gold and silver prices fell.

Gold prices dropped 0.8 per cent to $4,513 per ounce.

Silver prices lost 0.9 per cent to $71.97 an ounce.

The US dollar fell to 159.42 Japanese yen from 159.47 yen.

The euro was trading at $1.1570, a little up from $1.1559.