Oil prices jump and world shares are mixed as US and Iran carry out
airstrikes
[July 13, 2026] By
ELAINE KURTENBACH
BANGKOK (AP) — Oil prices jumped and world shares were mixed on Monday
after the U.S. carried out airstrikes and Iran retaliated.
In early European trading, Germany's DAX added 0.2% to 25,105.55 and the
CAC 40 in Paris edged 0.1% higher, to 8,347.26. Britain's FTSE 100 also
was up just 0.1%, at 10,506.86.
U.S. stock futures were mixed, with the contract for the S&P 500 down
0.3% and that for the Dow nearly unchanged. The Nasdaq composite future
lost 0.9%.
The price of Brent crude, the international standard, climbed as much as
nearly 5% early Monday before falling back. As of early morning in
Europe, it was up 2.3% at $77.72 per barrel, while U.S. benchmark crude
added 2.1% to $72.92 per barrel.
Prices for both types of crude oil recently had slipped back to around
the levels they were at before the war with Iran began after the two
sides set an interim agreement on ending the conflict and ships resumed
transporting oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
However, the United States launched several waves of strikes on Iran
into Monday morning over an Iranian attack on a container ship in the
strait that set it ablaze and left a crew member missing over the
weekend. Iran retaliated by targeting countries across the Middle East.
In Asian share trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index lost 1.9% to 67,242.73,
while in Seoul, the Kospi declined 9% to 6,806.93. It's now at its
lowest level since early May.
Shares in South Korean memory chipmaker SK Hynix, which soared 13% in
their debut Friday on Wall Street, slumped 15.4% in Seoul. Its bigger
rival Samsung Electronics sank 10.7%.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged 0.2% higher, to
24,212.36, and the Shanghai Composite index shed 2.1% to 3,913.79.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was nearly unchanged at 8,808.50.
U.S. stocks ticked higher Friday after investors showed sustained
appetite for winners of the artificial-intelligence boom. The S&P 500
rose 0.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%. The Nasdaq
composite climbed 0.3%.
SK Hynix's shares jumped immediately after trading began in the midday
hours after it raised roughly $26.5 billion by selling American
depositary shares at a price of $149 each.
SK Hynix’s stock in Seoul had already surged more than 600% over the
last year thanks to euphoria around AI. The boom has created real
profits due to surging demand for computer memory. But it has also
raised worries that AI stock prices have shot have too high and that all
the world’s spending on chips and data centers won’t be able to produce
enough productivity and profit growth to make it worth it.
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A dealer walks past near the screens showing 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, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
 “The reason why this stock, along
with other memory chipmakers, has gone parabolic is that AI demand
has somehow created the perception that a sector historically
defined by boom-and-bust cycles could remain permanently in the boom
phase,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote said in a commentary.
SK Hynix plans to double its production capacity, or possibly more,
to keep up with demand. However, “Technological breakthroughs, more
efficient AI models or simply a slowdown in AI infrastructure
investment could quickly turn the market into one of oversupply,”
she said.
Similar concerns apply to many AI stocks as they've grown into some
of Wall Street’s most influential because of their huge valuations.
Beyond that, investors will be focusing on earnings reports,
watching to see if corporate profits are growing fast enough to
justify big gains in stock prices, which are broadly near records.
This week will bring earnings reports from many of the biggest U.S.
banks, including Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman
Sachs and Wells Fargo on Tuesday alone.
Meanwhile, worries about how continued fighting with Iran will
affect the global flow of crude are clouding the outlook both for
energy costs and overall inflation.
High bond yields have been weighing on financial markets worldwide
since more expensive oil and high inflation could push the Federal
Reserve and other central banks to raise interest rates.
Higher rates can keep a lid on inflation, but they also slow the
economy and hurt prices for all kinds of investments.
In other dealings early Monday, the U.S. dollar rose to 162.01
Japanese yen from 161.72 yen. The euro rose to $1.1435 from $1.1408.
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