Seoul Gazette - Oil prices drop, stocks rise on Mideast hopes

Bargain buying saw Seoul's Kospi stocks index rebound strongly after big losses Monday that had been sparked by prospects of a hike to US interest rates and fears over tech firms' soaring valuations.

European indices largely climbed in afternoon deals, though London dropped slightly partly owing to a decline in the share price of British drugs giant GSK, which announced a $10.6-billion takeover of US cancer specialist Nuvalent.

Frankfurt and Paris stock markets gained as official data showed industrial production in Europe's biggest economy Germany rose slightly in April alongside its exports.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said negotiations over a peace deal to end the Middle East war were in their final stages, after Iran and Israel halted attacks that threatened to reignite the months-long conflict.

China, the world's second biggest economy behind the United States, said its exports surged by almost one fifth last month, as shipments of tech components and machinery helped it weather pressure from the Mideast conflict.

"While US markets staged a partial recovery overnight, investors remain cautious after the sharp selloff at the start of the week," noted Anna Macdonald, investment strategy director at Hargreaves Lansdown.

"The mood is one of tentative stabilisation rather than outright confidence, with attention still firmly on the outlook for AI valuations and interest rate expectations."

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI on Monday took the first step towards listing, one week after arch-rival Anthropic announced its own filing, as both companies look to raise the massive sums needed to expand.

Both companies appear set to follow Musk's SpaceX to Wall Street.

Eyes are meanwhile turning to the release on Wednesday of US inflation, which could play a key role in the Federal Reserve's rate decision-making.

The consumer price index is expected to hit 4.2 percent, which would be the highest level in more than three years.

- Key figures at around 1115 GMT -

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.9 percent at $92.46 a barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.3 percent at $89.23 a barrel

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.9 percent at 8,275.11 points

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.6 percent at 24,766.20

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 10,349.65

Seoul - Kospi: UP 8.2 percent at 8,096.93 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.2 percent at 65,416.63 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.4 percent at 24,565.90 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.3 percent at 4,010.03 (close)

New York - DOW: DOWN 0.2 percent at 50,786.01 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1570 from $1.1531 on Monday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3397 from $1.3341

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 160.16 yen from 160.21 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.36 pence from 86.44 pence

burs-bcp/cw

C.Park--SG