Asian shares are mixed and Brent crude at $104 a barrel after Trump says
US will buy Russian diesel
[October 12, 2026] By
ELAINE KURTENBACH
BANGKOK (AP) — World shares were mostly higher and the price of Brent
crude steadied above $104 a barrel Monday as U.S. President Donald
Trump’s plan to purchase diesel from Russia drew criticism from some
lawmakers.
U.S. stock futures edged 0.2% higher after Wall Street finished its
record-setting week with gains. This week will bring updates on
inflation and retail sales in the U.S. The biggest U.S. banks will
report earnings from the most recent quarter.
Germany's DAX added 0.5% to 25,213.52 and the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.3%
to 7,826.70. Britain's FTSE 100 picked up 0.5% to 10,602.21.
In Asian trading, South Korea’s Kospi lost 3.7% to 6,384.24. Markets in
Tokyo were closed for a holiday.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.3% to 24,271.20 and the Shanghai
Composite index slipped 0.4% to 3,797.24.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 surged 0.8% to 8,783,20.
Taiwan's Taiex ended nearly unchanged and the Sensex in India dropped
0.8%.
On Friday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average
added 0.8%. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.6%.
Oil prices have continued to yo-yo because of uncertainty about when the
war with Iran will allow the global energy industry to return to normal.
Trump announced on social media Friday that he struck a deal to buy
Russian diesel with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call,
aiming to tamp down a spike in fuel prices ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S.
midterm elections.
The president said Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons
of diesel to the American and global market, followed by an additional
500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons “immediately thereafter.”
Russia will deliver an additional 3 million tons “within a short period
of time” after that, he wrote.
Trump said Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an “energy
ceasefire ” in the 4 1/2-year-old war. He offered no details on it and
Kyiv reported attacks by Moscow on energy sites after his statement.
The plan runs counter to U.S. efforts to cut the flow of money Russia
gets from oil and gas sales that can be used to pay for its war against
Ukraine. Trump’s announcement came just a few weeks after Congress
passed legislation that directed Trump to impose substantial tariffs on
the top importers of Russian oil or natural gas, with an exception for
countries that import less than 15% of Russia’s natural gas exports and
have taken significant steps to reduce those imports.
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Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite
Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of
the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 12,
2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
 A bipartisan group of six senators
called Sunday for the administration to “immediately reverse course"
on the plan.
The price of Brent crude, the international standard, edged 0.1%
higher to $104.76 per barrel early Monday. U.S. benchmark crude oil
fell 0.4% to $91.50 per barrel.
Share prices have surged upward, supported by expectations of strong
corporate profits, even as Americans say they’re feeling more
squeezed by high inflation.
A preliminary report from the University of Michigan said Friday
that U.S. consumers are raising their own forecasts for how bad
inflation will be over the coming year. They’re expecting inflation
of 4.7%, up from their forecast of 4.6% a month ago and just 3.4% in
February before the war with Iran began. Sentiment among consumers
is falling sharply for Americans with lower incomes and smaller
investments in stocks, who can least afford the fast increases in
the cost of living.
The pressure is on companies to deliver strong growth in profits
after their stock prices ran toward records despite the downward
push from high bond yields. This week will bring high-profile profit
reports from big banks, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and
Wells Fargo all on Tuesday.
In other dealings early Monday, the U.S. dollar rose to 158.43
Japanese yen from 158.23 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.1191.
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