Seoul Gazette - Crude back above $110 on Strait stalemate fears

Meanwhile tech stocks took a hit and investors turned their attention to corporate earnings and the outlook for interest rates.

The White House has refused to say if US President Donald Trump is inclined to accept Iran's latest proposals to end the two-month-old conflict and re-open the crucial waterway, which would reportedly put off talks on Tehran's nuclear programme.

Qatar on Tuesday cautioned against the possibility of a "frozen conflict" in the Gulf, as talks between the US and Iran for a peace deal appeared at an impasse.

Oil prices rallied, with Brent crude for June delivery rising 2.8 percent to $111.26 a barrel.

The benchmark US contract, WTI for June delivery, rose 3.4 percent to $99.62 per barrel.

Hopes for a deal had been rising going into last weekend but Trump dashed them on Saturday by scrapping a planned trip by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad.

"Right now, the market is not optimistic about the chance of a deal to reopen the Strait due to Iran’s request to push discussions about nuclear disarmament into the future," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading platform.

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates announced it will withdraw from the OPEC and OPEC+ oil cartels on May 1, calling it a strategic decision by the major producer.

Rystad Energy analyst Jorge Leon said the UAE's move is significant as it is, alongside Saudi Arabia, one of the few nations with significant spare production capacity.

"While near-term effects may be muted given ongoing disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, the longer-term implication is a structurally weaker OPEC" and potentially more market volatility.

- AI concerns -

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.2 percent at the start of trading in New York, with shares in companies linked to OpenAI hit by a report in the Wall Street Journal that the ChatGPT maker had missed targets on the number of users and revenue.

Shares in Oracle, which is building massive data centre capacity for Open AI, fell more than five percent.

XTB's Brooks said that if Open AI struggles to meet sales targets it may be forced to spend on data centres needed to expand the use of AI.

"This news may threaten the AI investment theme that has driven US stock markets to record highs," she warned.

The news also means that AI spending by tech giants Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft will come under even closer scrutiny when they report results later this week.

In Europe, shares were down in afternoon trading.

Stock markets mostly fell in Asia, under further pressure after the Bank of Japan sharply raised its inflation forecasts for the current year and halved its growth projections owing to surging oil prices while leaving its key interest rate unchanged.

"This triggered profit-taking. A similar picture could emerge at the meetings of the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank," said analyst Andreas Lipkow at CMC Markets.

The US Federal Reserve begins a two-day meeting Tuesday amid the same growing inflationary concerns over the surge in energy costs.

The European Central Bank meets Thursday.

- Key figures at 1330 GMT -

West Texas Intermediate: UP 3.4 percent at $99.62 a barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.8 percent at $111.26 a barrel

New York - Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 49,340.31

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.5 percent at 7,135.14

New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 1.2 percent at 24,600.46

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 10,369.85 points

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 8,168.37 Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 24,116.02

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.0 percent at 59,917.46 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.0 percent at 25,679.78 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 4,078.64 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1700 from $1.1722 on Monday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3492 from $1.3534

Dollar/yen: UP at 159.48 yen from 159.39 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 86.71 pence from 86.61 pence

I.Jang--SG