Asian stocks fall and oil climbs again over Iran war de-escalation
uncertainties
[March 26, 2026] By
CHAN HO-HIM
HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks traded lower and oil prices rose back to
around $100 per barrel on Thursday as a de-escalation of the Iran war
remained uncertain.
U.S. futures were down 0.5%.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was trading 0.3% lower at 53,603.65. South Korea’s
Kospi lost 3.2% to 5,460.46.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.9% to 24,856.43, while the Shanghai
Composite index was down 1.1% to 3,889.08.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged down 0.1%, while Taiwan’s Taiex was
trading 0.3% lower.
Oil prices were up again on Thursday. Brent crude, the international
standard, rose 3.3% to $100.41 per barrel. It was below $95 on
Wednesday. Benchmark U.S. crude was 3.8% higher at $93.74 a barrel.
The rise in oil prices came as Tehran on Wednesday dismissed a ceasefire
plan by the U.S., after the administration of U.S. President Donald
Trump offered a 15-point proposal to Iran and Trump this week delayed a
self-imposed deadline to “obliterate” its power plants in order to force
Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran also launched more attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries as
Israel launched airstrikes on Tehran and the U.S. prepared to deploy
more American troops to the region.
With the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway between Iran and Oman
where roughly a fifth of the world’s oil typically passes through,
remaining largely closed after the Iran war began, oil prices have
fluctuated, climbing around 40% since the beginning of the war, which is
now in its fourth week.
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Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea
Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange
rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign
exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South
Korea, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
 On Wednesday, Wall Street stocks
closed higher. The S&P 500 gained 0.5% to 6,591.90. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average climbed 0.7% to 46,429.49, and the Nasdaq
composite rose 0.8% to 21,929.83.
U.S.-listed shares of Arm Holdings jumped 16.4%, following an
announcement by the U.K. company that it would be launching and
selling its own chips which is expected to drive future revenue.
On Holding, the Swiss sportswear company selling On running shoes,
fell 11.2% in the U.S. Its CEO Martin Hoffmann is stepping down and
the company has named two co-founders as co-CEOs.
In other dealings early Thursday, gold and silver prices fell. Gold
prices dropped 2.7% to $4,428.80 per ounce. Silver prices lost 5.2%
to $68.88 an ounce.
The U.S. dollar rose to 159.49 Japanese yen from 159.47 yen. The
euro was unchanged at $1.1559.
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