Asian Markets Mostly Higher, Tracking Wall Street Gains; Oil Stabilizes

Asian shares were largely higher on Tuesday, mirroring gains on Wall Street, as South Korea's stock market recovered from significant losses driven by a tech sell-off. Oil prices stabilized as the U.S. and Iran indicated they would send delegations to Qatar for discussions, though Iran noted that formal talks with the U.S. had not yet been arranged.

South Korea's Kospi index, which has benefited from the global AI boom and increased demand for chips from companies like SK Hynix, rose 1.3% to 8,504.43. The index had previously experienced declines of 0.2% and 5.8% over the preceding two trading days.

Concerns regarding the sustainability of the recent surge in AI stock valuations have contributed to market volatility, including in South Korea. Earlier in the week, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix announced plans to invest over $500 billion in South Korea's chipmaking and AI sectors. On Tuesday, shares of Samsung Electronics increased by 3.6%, and SK Hynix saw a 1% rise.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.9% to 70,116.82. Japanese stocks have also seen positive impacts from the AI trend. Chip equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron jumped 4.3%, and SoftBank Group, an investment firm with a stake in OpenAI, was up 0.6%.

In other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 0.8% to 22,836.39, while the Shanghai Composite index in China traded 0.2% higher at 4,080.42. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged up less than 0.1% to 8,825.80. Taiwan's Taiex gained 3.2%, and India's Sensex lost 0.1%.

Oil prices experienced a modest decrease early Tuesday, remaining near levels seen before the conflict with Iran began in late February. Traders are closely observing developments in U.S.-Iran negotiations aimed at achieving a permanent cessation of hostilities. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was trading 0.2% lower at $73.73 per barrel, compared to approximately $72 per barrel before the conflict started. U.S. benchmark crude fell 0.4% to $70.49 per barrel.

On Monday, Wall Street closed with gains after earlier trading in negative territory. The S&P 500 added 1.2% to 7,440.43, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.6% to 52,182.74, and the technology-focused Nasdaq composite increased by 2.1% to 25,820.14. Major tech companies saw stock price increases, with Intel up 2.7%, Micron Technology up 1.1%, Nvidia up 1.3%, and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) up 3.4%.

In currency markets, the U.S. dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen, rising to 162.18 yen from 161.94 yen. The euro traded at $1.1399, down from $1.1422.