World shares are mostly higher and oil gains $2.50 as Iran talks remain
in flux
[April 27, 2026] By
ELAINE KURTENBACH
World shares mostly gained and the price of Brent crude oil jumped $2.50
a barrel early Monday as talks on ending the war with Iran stayed
snagged.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index hit a fresh record Monday after U.S. stocks
ended last week with new highs.
Two Middle Eastern officials said Iran was offering to end its chokehold
over the Strait of Hormuz without addressing its nuclear program, while
requesting that the U.S. end its blockade of Iran. President Donald
Trump is unlikely to support the proposal, which was conveyed to the
U.S. through Pakistan, as he wants Iran’s nuclear program closed down as
part of a broader deal to end the war.
Disruptions to shipping through the strait have pushed oil prices
sharply higher since the war began.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude, to be delivered in July, rose
$2.46 to $101.59. U.S. benchmark crude oil added $2.20 to $96.60.
This week will bring decisions on interest rates by top central banks,
including the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of
Japan and the Bank of England.
In early European trading, Germany's DAX picked up 0.3% to 24,193.27,
while the CAC 40 in Paris edged 0.1% higher, to 8,165.07. Britain's FTSE
100 lost 0.1% to 10,374.51.
The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.1% while that for the Dow Jones
Industrial Average shed 0.2%.
In Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 surged 1.4% to 60,537.36 after
touching a new intraday high of 60,903.95. The Kospi in South Korea
jumped 2% to 6,615.03.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 0.1% to 25,964.27 and the Shanghai
Composite index gained 0.2% to 4,086.34.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% to 8,766.40.
Taiwan's Taiex rallied 1.8%, helped by a revival of buying of tech
shares driven by the boom in artificial intelligence. India's Sensex
added 0.8%.
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A currency trader watches monitors near a screen showing the Korea
Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign
exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center
left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank
headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP
Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
 On Friday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.8%
and topped its prior all-time high, which was set on Wednesday. It
closed at 7,165.08.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.2% to 49,230.71, while the
Nasdaq composite rallied 1.6% to its own record thanks to strong
gains for the tech sector, closing at 24,836.60.
A survey by the University of Michigan found consumer sentiment
soured in April across political party, income, age, and education,
though it improved a bit after the ceasefire in the war with Iran
was announced earlier in the month.
The S&P 500 has leaped nearly 13% in a little under a month. Hopes
have also built in financial markets that the United States and Iran
can find a way to avoid a worst-case scenario for the global economy
because of their war.
A tenuous ceasefire remains, but tensions between the U.S. and Iran
are keeping oil tankers from passing through the Strait of Hormuz to
deliver crude from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide.
In Wall Street trading Friday, Intel roared past its peak in 2000
during the dot-com boom to an all-time high. It soared 23.6% for its
best day since 1987 after reporting much stronger results for the
first three months of the year than analysts expected. CEO Lip-Bu
Tan said the next wave of artificial-intelligence technology is
increasing the need for Intel’s chips and products, and the
company’s forecast for profit in the spring topped analysts’
estimates.
In other dealings early Monday, the dollar fell to 159.24 Japanese
yen from 159.59. The euro climbed to $1.1741 from $1.1701.
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