Oil falls and world shares jump on renewed hopes of Iran war ending
[April 01, 2026] By
CHAN HO-HIM
HONG KONG (AP) — World shares were higher and oil fell briefly below
$100 per barrel on Wednesday after U.S. stocks soared to their best day
in almost a year on renewed hopes that the Iran war could soon end.
The renewed optimism over a possible de-escalation of the Iran war,
which is in its fifth week, came after U.S. President Donald Trump said
on Tuesday the United States will be done attacking Iran probably in two
to three weeks, and that the U.S. “will not have anything to do with”
what happens next in the Strait of Hormuz.
In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 1.8% to 10,356.41.
France's CAC 40 was 1.3% higher at 7,920.89, and Germany's DAX climbed
1.6% to 23,052.89.
Asian shares closed sharply higher. South Korea’s Kospi recovered its
losses from earlier this week, surging 8.4% to 5,478.70, while Tokyo’s
Nikkei 225 rose 5.2% to 53,739.68. A survey by Japan’s central bank
released Wednesday showed business sentiment for major Japanese
manufacturers improved despite Iran war worries.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 2.2% to 25,339.45, while the Shanghai
Composite index was trading 1.5% higher at 3,948.55.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 2.2% to 8,671.80.
Taiwan's Taiex climbed 4.6%, and India's Sensex rose 1.7%.
U.S. futures were 0.4% higher.
The White House said Trump will deliver a public address Wednesday
evening on the Iran war.
Trump’s remarks came after he told U.S. allies to “go get your own oil”
and blamed them for refusing to be more involved in its war effort.
Significant maritime traffic disruption at the Strait of Hormuz, where
roughly a fifth of the world’s oil typically passes through, has sent
energy prices surging and is fueling global inflation.
Oil prices fell and were briefly down 4% to below $100 a barrel on
Wednesday, though the losses later narrowed. Brent crude, the
international standard, was down 1% at $102.98 per barrel. Benchmark
U.S. crude dropped 1.1% to $100.31.
As the Iran war rattles global energy markets, on Tuesday, U.S. gas
prices surged past an average of $4 a gallon, the first time since 2022.
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A currency trader reacts 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,
Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
 “De-escalation hopes have given
markets a lift, but we think the effects of the war would, in many
cases, persist even if the war did end soon,” wrote Thomas Mathews,
head of markets, Asia Pacific at Capital Economics in a research
note Wednesday.
“It’s worth thinking through how markets might fare if the war were
to end ‘very soon,'” he wrote. “Do markets have further to recover
if sentiment continues to improve? The answer is almost certainly
yes.”
Wall Street advanced on Tuesday. The S&P 500 jumped 2.9% for its
largest gain since May to 6,528.52. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
surged 2.5% to 46,341.51, and the Nasdaq composite leaped 3.8% to
21,590.63.
Shares of U.S. semiconductor company Marvell Technology spiked
12.8%, after Nvidia said it was investing $2 billion in the company.
Nvidia jumped 5.6%.
Centessa Pharmaceuticals leaped 44%, following U.S. drugmaker Eli
Lilly's announcement that it was acquiring the company that's
developing a new class of medicines that could treat excessive
daytime sleepiness.
McCormick, the spice and flavorings company, fell 6.1% after
confirmation that it was combing with Unilever’s food business.
In other dealings, gold prices rose 1.6% to $4,751.80 per ounce. The
U.S. dollar was trading at 158.36 Japanese yen, down from 158.72
yen. The euro was at $1.1584, up from $1.1553.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.
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