Oil prices ease as Asian shares rise, following Wall Street gains

September 03, 2026, 10:52 AM
by AP/UNB

UNB News
Publish- September 03, 2026, 10:52 AM
AP/UNB

Oil prices ease as Asian shares rise, following Wall Street gains

A person walk in front of an electronic stock chart board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Oil prices edged lower on Thursday after rising sharply earlier in the week amid renewed fighting between the United States and Iran, while Asian stock markets mostly gained, tracking an upbeat performance on Wall Street.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 0.4% to $95.26 a barrel. U.S. crude slipped 0.1% to $90.84 per barrel.

U.S. futures also moved slightly higher.

Oil prices had surged earlier this week as renewed conflict between the U.S. and Iran raised concerns over possible disruptions to energy supplies. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he did not expect the U.S. bombing campaign to continue for “much longer.”

In Asian trading, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.2% to 64,455.83. SoftBank Group gained 2.9%, while Kioxia Holdings added 0.6% and Tokyo Electron rose 0.8%.

South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.4% to 6,656.81, with Samsung Electronics gaining 1.3% and SK Hynix rising 1.4%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged up 0.1%, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.4%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5%, Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.6%, and India’s Sensex added 0.3%.

The gains followed a positive session on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 rose 0.5% on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6%, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.5%.

Investors were encouraged by positive signs of continued demand for artificial intelligence, which has been a major force behind this year’s stock market rally.

Dell Technologies surged 15.8% after reporting strong quarterly earnings. Nvidia gained 3.2%, Meta Platforms rose 2.5%, and Micron Technology added 2.4%.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell to 4.77% from above 4.81% early Wednesday. Global bond markets had come under pressure amid concerns over inflation, rising energy prices linked to the Iran conflict and growing U.S. government debt.

Investors are now awaiting the U.S. employment report for August, due Friday.

In currency trading, the Japanese yen strengthened against the U.S. dollar. The dollar fell to 157.78 yen from 158.71 yen late Wednesday after climbing above 160 yen earlier in the week, fueling expectations that Japanese authorities could intervene to support the currency.

The euro rose slightly to $1.1598 from $1.1588.