Oil prices sink nearly 7% and world shares gain as Chinese chipmaker
CXMT soars in Shanghai debut
[July 27, 2026] By
ELAINE KURTENBACH
BANGKOK (AP) — World shares were mostly higher Monday and oil prices
slipped nearly 7% as the U.S. and Iran refrained from fighting while
discussing a possible resumption of negotiations on an interim ceasefire
deal.
Shares in Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT soared 466% as they began
trading on Shanghai’s technology board. The company jumped to become
China's most valuable listed company with an estimated market
capitalization of 3.3 trillion yuan (nearly $490 billion).
The Pentagon did not respond to questions about the pause in attacks on
Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure after nearly two weeks of
escalating fighting sparked by Iran’s firing at ships trying to transit
the Strait of Hormuz.
But markets reacted with relief. U.S. futures surged early Monday and
the price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard,
dropped 6.8% to $85.49.
U.S. benchmark crude dropped 7% to $83.06 per barrel.
“Oil’s sharp retreat at the Monday open did more than knock a few
dollars off the barrel. It loosened the geopolitical knot that had been
tightening around equities, currencies, bonds and central banks for most
of July,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
In early European trading, Germany's DAX gained 1.6% to 25,497,42 and
the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.8% at 8,436.94. Britain's FTSE 100 rose
0.5% to 10,784.00.
The futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 1%.
In Asian trading, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.5% to 64,931.19,
while the Kospi in South Korea advanced 1% to 6,755.75.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 1% to 25,207.18, while the Shanghai
Composite index gained 1.2% to 3,858.25.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 surged 1.4% to 8,894.00.
Taiwan's Taiex slipped 0.1% and the Sensex in India added 1.1%.
On Friday, the S&P 500 barely budged, picking up less than 0.1% and
notching its second straight losing week for the first time since March.
The Dow industrials rose 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite index slipped 0.6%,
weighed down by sharp losses for heavyweights like Micron Technology,
which fell 7%, and Broadcom, which lost 2.7%.
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The screens show the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and
the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won
at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, July
27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
 Recent surges in energy prices and
fresh tariffs announced last week by the administration of U.S.
President Donald Trump could result in hotter inflation, which has
been squeezing consumers and looming over the Federal Reserve’s
interest rate policy.
The Fed meets this week, though rising inflation
has dashed hopes for an interest-rate cut anytime soon. Wall Street
has been leaning toward a potential rate hike to tamp down higher
prices.
Higher energy costs are taking up a bigger share of household
budgets, which have shifted toward more basic needs, like gasoline.
Nationally, a gallon of gasoline costs $4.11 per gallon, according
to AAA. That is still lower than this spring as the conflict in Iran
expanded, but almost a dollar higher than last year at this time.
“Oil is the fastest-moving tax in the global economy. When crude
rises sharply, consumers feel it at the fuel pump, airlines and
transport companies feel it in their operating costs, manufacturers
feel it in their logistics, and central banks begin worrying that
the initial supply shock will spill over into broader inflation
expectations,” Innes said.
Meanwhile, corporate earnings reports are focusing attention on the
sustainability of broader profits from a boom in spending on
artificial intelligence. Tech giants like Alphabet and Nvidia have
been spending heavily to expand AI capacity and investors
increasingly are questioning whether they will generate profits to
justify the massive stock values that have pushed markets market
higher throughout the year.
In other dealings early Monday, the U.S. dollar slipped to 163.56
Japanese yen from 163.64 yen. The euro rose to $1.1399 from $1.1398.
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