Oil rises, stocks mostly higher on US-Iran deadlock

Oil prices spiked more than four per cent following the exchange, before easing.

Brent oil futures finished up almost three per cent at US$104.21 a barrel.

“The price of oil remains highly reactive to news around the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, both positive and negative,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB.

But Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare said traders see Trump as unlikely to aggravate the oil supply situation ahead of his summit meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this week.

Beijing has said it is ready to work with Washington in pursuit of “more stability” as the two countries remain at odds over key issues including trade tariffs, the Middle East war and Taiwan.

In Asia, Tokyo stocks fell, Hong Kong was little changed and Shanghai jumped more than one percent, while Seoul climbed around four per cent, supported by a rally in tech stocks.

A tech-led surge driven by strong quarterly earnings and optimism about artificial intelligence has pushed several markets to record highs despite the Mideast crisis.

In Tokyo, Nintendo shares plunged almost 10 per cent after the Japanese gaming giant warned Friday of lower profits this year and said it would raise the price of its Switch 2 console.