Asian Stocks Rise On Oil Drop, Easing Geopolitical Tensions

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks are broadly higher on Monday, supported by a sharp drop in crude oil prices, and slightly easing geopolitical worries following a pause in Middle East tensions over the weekend.

Brent crude futures, which fell to $85.50 a barrel, recovered to around $88.50, but were still down nearly 4% from previous close.

U.S. President Donald Trump has paused attacks on Iran for the second night in a row to give diplomacy more time, the US ambassador to the UN said.

Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, ambassador Mike Waltz said the president was "giving talks some space, he's giving it a little bit of room".

An Iranian army spokesperson said on Sunday that Tehran had halted "retaliatory" attacks in the region in response.

In the Australian market, data showing an improvement in the nation's services sector activity in the month of July is adding to the positive sentiment, even as investors await the crucial inflation data due later in the week.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 92.30 points or 1.05% at 8,864.60 a little while ago, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 93.30 points or 1.04% at 9,034.80.

Capricorn Metals is soaring more than 13%. Xero is rising 7%, while WiseTech Global, Seek, James Hardie, Sandfire, ALS, Qantas Airways, REA, Technology One and Megaport are gaining 3%-6%.

BHP Group, Cochlear, Sims Metal Management, ResMed, Rio Tinto, BHP Group, Washington H Soul and Newmont Corporation are also up with strong gains.

Among financials stocks, Bendigo & Adelaide Bank, Bank of Queensland and National Australia Bank are moderately higher, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac Banking are up marginally, and ANZ Bank is down slightly.

In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 moved modestly higher with stocks turning in a mixed performance. At the end of the morning session, the Nikkei 225 was up 152.86 points or 0.24% at 64,764.01, after having climbed to 65,220.69 earlier.

Shiseido surged 7.5%. Konami, Fujifilm, Olympus, Dentsu, Recruit Holdings, Hitachi Construction Company, Sony, Ricoh, Japan Airlines, Isuzu Motors, Konica Minolta, Canon, Sumco, M3, Terumo, Fujitsu and Mitsubishi Motors gained 3%-6%.

Rakuten, J Front Retailing, Takashimaya, Yamaha, Central Japan, East Japan Railway, West Japan Railway, Mazda Motor, NEC, Suzuki Motor, Trend Micro, JFE Holdings, Bridgestone, Nissan, Hitachi, Hino Motors, Yamaha Motor and Honda Motor were among the other impressive gainers.

Fujikura, Chugain Pharma, Resonac Holdings, Toppan, Furukawa Electric, Mitsui Kinzoku, Murata Manufacturing, Kawasaki, Inpex, Japan Steel Works, Mitsubish Heavy Industries, Softbank, Advantest and Nikon Corporation fell sharply.

The South Korean market's KOSPI is down in negative territory, weighed down by losses in the technology sector amid worries about valuations due to high AI spending, and caution ahead of key earnings updates from US tech majors.

The KOSPI, which dropped to 6,557.39 earlier, was down 55.97 points or 0.84% at 6,634.65 a little while ago.

SK Hynix, SK Square, Samsung Electronics and Hanwha Aerospace are among the notable losers.

The Chinese stock market is modestly higher. The Shanghai Composite Index is up by about 0.25% at 3,823.32.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is rising nearly 0.8% to 25,157.00

The Malaysian market is up with its benchmark KLCI rising about 0.5%, and the New Zealand market's NZX 50 is up 0.25%.

Stock markets in Indonesia and Singapore are up marginally.