World shares are mixed and US futures fall as Iran talks make progress
[June 22, 2026] By
CHAN HO-HIM
HONG KONG (AP) — World shares were mixed Monday with markets in Japan
and South Korea trading higher and setting new records, while oil prices
edged lower on fresh optimism over progress in U.S.-Iran negotiations.
U.S. futures were trading lower.
In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 edged down less than 0.1%
to 10,360.01, after Keir Starmer announced he was stepping down as
leader of the governing Labour Party and will leave office within weeks.
Germany's DAX was down 0.2% to 24,940.33, while France's CAC 40 fell
0.5% to 8,378.85.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.6% and ended at another all-time
record of 72,353.96, led by technology stocks that were fueled by
excitement over the global artificial intelligence boom.
Japan’s SoftBank Group, the multinational investment holding company
with a strong AI focus, rose 1.9%. Chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron
was up 3.2%.
South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.7% to 9,114.55, also a record closing high,
helped by AI-related shares. Memory chip maker SK Hynix surged 5.6%.
The Nikkei 225 and Kospi were up more than 40% and 120%, respectively,
over the past six months. Both benchmark indexes have been setting fresh
records in recent days on AI enthusiasm and positive developments from
the Iran war.
“We’re seeing another strong market today,” Neil Newman, managing
director and head of strategy at Astris Advisory Japan, said. He
cautioned that the Japanese market is “probably getting a little
stretched” from an investor’s point of view, “especially with what’s
going (on) in the Middle East.”
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.7% to 23,768.52, while the Shanghai
Composite index was 1.8% higher at 4,163.10.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.1% to 8,816.10.
Taiwan’s Taiex rose 2.8%. India’s Sensex was up 0.5%.
Oil prices fell as talks progressed over a permanent end to the Iran
war. Brent crude, the international standard, was trading 1.6% lower to
$79.30 per barrel. It was at roughly $70 a barrel before the start of
the war in late February.
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Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the
Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, June 22, 2026.
(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
 High-level negotiations in
Switzerland between the U.S. and Iran concluded early Monday, with
lower-level technical talks set for the rest of the week. Mediators
Qatar and Pakistan said “encouraging progress” was made during the
negotiations.
Meanwhile, while Iran said the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for
oil and gas transport, was shut again over the weekend, the U.S.
said that traffic had continued.
“Moving towards a more permanent deal will be challenging, with very
real risks of a flare-up in hostilities,” ING commodities
strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a commentary
on Monday.
Thomas Mathews, head of markets for Asia Pacific from Capital
Economics, believes energy flows in the strait are more likely to
recover only gradually. “With the controversial — and fragile —
U.S.-Iran peace process now underway, attention is turning to how
quickly tankers return to the Strait of Hormuz to load energy
supplies,” he wrote in a note.
In the U.S., investors are also monitoring May's personal
consumption expenditures price index, or PCE, the preferred
inflation gauge of the Federal Reserve, which is due to be released
this Thursday.
In other dealings, the U.S. dollar rose to 161.74 Japanese yen from
161.22 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1457, down from $1.1473.
___
Associated Press senior producer Mayuko Ono in Tokyo contributed to
this report.
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