Asian stocks gain and oil falls on hopes of renewed US-Iran talks
[April 14, 2026] By
CHAN HO-HIM
HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks were trading higher, tracking Wall Street
gains, and oil fell on Tuesday as expectations rose over a possible
second round of talks between the U.S. and Iran on an end to the Iran
war.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was up 2.4% to 57,877.39. South Korea’s Kospi jumped
2.7% to 5,967.75 after briefly topping 6,000 intraday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.7% to 25,832.85, while the Shanghai
Composite index climbed 1% to 4,026.63. China on Tuesday reported
worse-than-expected export growth of 2.5% in March for the first month
since the Iran war began, although some analysts believe Chinese exports
of goods related to AI and renewable energy will continue to support
overall export momentum for the year.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5%, and Taiwan’s Taiex rose 2.4%.
Investors are still hopeful for a lasting de-escalation of the Iran war,
which is in its seventh week, as the U.S. and Iran are said to be
weighing a second round of talks before a temporary ceasefire agreement
expires next week. The U.S. military on Monday began a blockade of
Iranian ports as Washington steps up its pressure on Tehran, following
ceasefire talks between the two sides over the weekend that ended
without an agreement.
But U.S. President Donald Trump also suggested on Monday that the United
States is still willing to engage with Tehran. “I can tell you that
we’ve been called by the other side,” he said, without further
elaborating details.
Oil prices continued to pull back on Tuesday from earlier gains. Brent
crude, the international standard, was down 0.9% to $98.45 per barrel.
It reached nearly $104 early Monday morning over Iran war worries on
limited progress from the weekend ceasefire talks.
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A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's
Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in Tokyo.
(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
 Benchmark U.S. crude fell 2.6% early
Tuesday to $96.51 a barrel.
The global energy shock stemming from maritime traffic disruptions
in the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly a fifth of the world’s oil is
typically transported, has led to surging fuel prices and is
threatening to push up inflation in many countries and impact
economic growth.
Wall Street rose on Monday. The S&P 500 gained 1% to 6,886.24. The
Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.6% to 48,218.25, and the
Nasdaq composite added 1.2% to 23,183.74.
Shares of investment bank Goldman Sachs dropped 1.9% despite its
announcement of better-than-expected quarterly profits.
In other dealings, gold and silver prices rose on Tuesday. Gold’s
price was up 0.7% to $4,802.3 an ounce, while silver prices gained
3% to $77.91 per ounce.
The U.S. dollar fell to 159.10 Japanese yen from 159.45 yen. The
euro was trading at $1.1778, up from $1.1759.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.
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