TOKYO, May 12: Asian shares traded mixed early Tuesday as optimism encouraged by a record rally on Wall Street clashed with anxiety about surging oil prices and a possible AI bubble.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.7 per cent to 62,881.03. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.2 per cent to 7,726.30, in what analysts are categorising as fallout from overreliance on fraying AI hopes.
“Global equities remain dangerously dependent on a tiny cluster of AI leaders, creating a rally structure that looks powerful on the surface but increasingly fragile underneath,” said Stephen Innes, analyst with SPI Asset Management.
He believes South Korea may be among the first major economies that will undergo what he called “the political redistribution phase of the AI boom.”
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.3 per cent to 8,676.60. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.2 per cent to 26,467.50, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.4 per cent to 4,208.00.
Oil prices continued to rise, as the war with Iran threatens to drag on. Benchmark US crude rose 91 cents to USD 98.98 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 90 cents to USD 105.11 a barrel.
Adding to worries were comments from President Donald Trump that the US-Iran ceasefire was on “life support” after rejecting Iran’s latest proposal to end their war.
That raises the stakes for Trump’s trip this week to China. China is the biggest buyer of Iran’s sanctioned crude oil.
The war has already sent the price for a barrel of Brent racing up from prewar levels of roughly USD 70 and delivered inflation through the global economy.
The war has shut the Strait of Hormuz and kept oil tankers stuck in the Persian Gulf instead of delivering crude to customers worldwide.
Still, some companies are reporting bigger profit than analysts expected, which means the US economy is holding up even though households are feeling discouraged by expensive gasoline and tariffs.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent from its prior all-time high set on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 95 points, or 0.2 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.1 per cent to reach its own all-time high.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 13.91 points to 7,412.84. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 95.31 to 49,704.47, and the Nasdaq composite gained 27.05 to 26,274.13.
In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher. The 10-year yield rose to 4.40 per cent from 4.38 per cent late Friday.
In currency trading, the US dollar rose to 157.57 Japanese yen from 157.12 yen. The euro cost USD 1.1761, down from USD 1.1787. (AP)
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