Oil prices decreased on Wednesday as Asian markets showed mostly downward trends. South Korea’s Kospi index continued its decline, having already lost over 16% in the previous two days. The fluctuations in crude prices followed the U.S. announcement of a “heavy wave” of strikes against Iran after an attack on a U.S. base.
In South Korea, the recent dip in the Kospi, which benefits significantly from the global AI boom, has led to scrutiny. Some analysts view this as reflecting broader skepticism about large-scale technology investments in AI. On Thursday, the Kospi was down 1.3% to 5,587.82, following a 10.8% drop on Tuesday and nearly 6% on Wednesday. Despite a more than 35% fall from its all-time high above 9,000 in June, the index is still up around 30% this year.
Samsung Electronics rose 2.4% as the company reported record operating profits for the latest quarter, matching expectations. Conversely, SK Hynix dropped 4% after a significant gain in quarterly operating profit that still fell short of investor expectations.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 increased by 0.6% to 61,778.02. SoftBank Group, an Open-AI investor, fell 2.7%, while Tokyo Electron and Kioxia Holdings saw gains of 4.4% and 7.5%, respectively. Taiwan’s Taiex, buoyed by the AI surge, rose 0.8% as TSMC climbed 1.8%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slightly decreased by under 0.1% to 25,779.70, and the Shanghai Composite index fell 1.2% to 3,784.55. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 also slipped 0.9% to 8,959.90, while India’s Sensex showed a minor increase of less than 0.1%.
Oil prices continued to fall on Thursday as tensions between the U.S. and Iran persisted. President Donald Trump stated that the U.S. would respond strongly after Iran’s attack on a U.S. base in Jordan. Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, crucial for oil transportation, remains restricted, influencing global supply pressures. Brent crude declined 1% to $87.18 per barrel, after significant gains the previous day. It had been around $72 a barrel in late February.
U.S. benchmark crude reduced by 0.9% to $83.74 per barrel. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 fell 1.5% to 7,316.15, the Dow Jones decreased by 2.2% to 51,594.14, and the Nasdaq dropped 1.7% to 24,442.94. Key chipmakers saw declines: Nvidia by 3.6%, AMD by 5.5%, and Broadcom by 2.8%.
These losses coincided with the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates steady. Despite some committee members supporting a rate hike, Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh emphasized efforts to lower inflation to 2%. He maintained a strategy of providing less direction on potential interest rate actions, which increases market volatility.
“Did the Fed take an explicit change in its policy rate today?” Warsh remarked. “No, but I think that’s the beginning of the story.”
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield increased to 4.70%, up from 4.61% on Tuesday. The U.S. dollar moved higher against the yen to 163.49, while the euro dropped to $1.1454.
AP Business Writers Stan Choe and Matt Ott contributed to this report.