Asian Shares Climb As US-Iran Tensions Ease

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks advanced on Monday as oil prices tumbled amid U.S.-Iran truce hopes, helping ease inflation and interest-rate concerns ahead of crucial Fed, BoE and BoJ central bank meetings due this week.

Iran stopped conducting counterattacks and said it had made progress in talks with Oman on management of the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. paused an almost two-week run of strikes against Iran for a second night.

With the pause in the U.S.-Iran war, Brent crude prices tumbled toward $90 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index dropped while gold jumped more than 1 percent to trade above $4,100 an ounce.

China's Shanghai Composite index surged 1.15 percent to 3,858.24 as shares of CXMT, China's biggest memory chip maker, soared nearly 500 percent on its first day on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 0.98 percent to 25,207.18.

Japanese markets reversed course to end higher as signs of easing Middle East tensions offset concerns over the profitability of artificial intelligence investment.

The Nikkei average closed half a percent higher at 64,931.19 while the broader Topix index climbed 1.37 percent to 4,066.07.

Tech stocks declined, with chip-testing equipment maker Advantest falling 2 percent ahead of its earnings scheduled for Wednesday. Memory chipmaker Kioxia Holdings lost 2.6 percent ahead of its earnings results due on Friday.

Seoul stocks ended a choppy session sharply higher, led by technology stocks. The Kospi index surged 0.97 percent to 6,755.75.

Samsung Electronics rose 1.8 percent after it struck a pact with U.S. chip designer Broadcom to widen cooperation across memory chips, contract chip making and advanced packaging. Peer SK Hynix surged 3.2 percent.

Australian markets rallied after a gauge of Australia's services sector growth hit a six-month high in July. Traders also braced for upcoming CPI inflation data for fresh insights into the Reserve Bank's policy outlook.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.39 percent to 8,894 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended up 1.37 percent at 9,063.80.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index ended 0.57 percent higher at 13,850.69, erasing early losses and halting the previous session's losses.

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday as oil prices fell sharply and bond yields dipped following reports that Pakistan is exploring a path toward new U.S.-Iran talks over ending the conflict.

In economic news, a new round of tariffs on 60 trading partners over forced labor concerns came into effect, replacing a temporary global duty introduced earlier this year.

A survey showed U.S. business activity expanded at the fastest pace in eight months in July, boosted by the World Cup.

While the the-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6 percent against a backdrop of AI jitters, the S&P 500 inched up marginally and the Dow gained half a percent.