Stocks retreat as oil prices top $100 despite fresh Wall Street records

Hong Kong: Shares retreated in Europe and Asia on Thursday after an initial jump pushed Japan’s Nikkei 225 above 60,000 for the first time, while oil prices climbed above $100 a barrel as investors reacted to uncertain prospects for further talks to end the war with Iran.

U.S. futures also pulled back after Wall Street indexes rallied to record highs a day earlier, buoyed by strong corporate earnings.

Germany’s DAX fell 0.5% to 24,064.00, while France’s CAC 40 edged 0.2% higher. Britain’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.8% to 10,395.83.

Futures for the S&P 500 slipped 0.5%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures declined 0.6%.

Markets in Japan and South Korea briefly touched new records, driven by gains in technology shares. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.8% to 59,140.23 after earlier climbing to 60,013.98.

South Korea’s Kospi closed 0.9% higher at 6,475.81 after briefly surpassing 6,500. The government reported a better-than-expected annual economic growth rate of 1.7% for the January–March quarter, boosted by strong exports, particularly computer chips used in the artificial intelligence boom.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index shed 1% to 25,915.20, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3% to 4,093.25.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.6% to 8,793.40. Taiwan’s Taiex lost 0.4%, and India’s Sensex sank 1%.

Investor sentiment has been weighed down by growing unease over prospects for ending the Iran war, now in its eighth week, even after U.S. President Donald Trump extended a ceasefire. Uncertainty remains over whether and when another round of peace talks may take place.

Global energy prices have surged amid the Iran war’s impact on supply. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose $1.81 early Thursday to $103.72 per barrel, compared with about $70 a barrel before the conflict began in late February.

Benchmark U.S. crude gained $1.73 to $94.69 per barrel.

As hopes for a resolution between the United States and Iran fade, the oil market “is having to reprice expectations,” ING Bank strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey said in a research note.

“If no progress is made, the market will become increasingly numb to the noise and headlines that have dictated price action recently,” they wrote.

Wall Street set fresh records Wednesday following strong corporate earnings and the extension of the Iran war ceasefire. The S&P 500 jumped 1% to 7,137.90, surpassing its previous record set on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7% to 49,490.03, while the Nasdaq composite gained 1.6% to a record 24,657.57.

Shares of GE Vernova surged 13.7% after the company reported stronger-than-expected quarterly profits. Boeing climbed 5.5%, and Philip Morris International rose 7%, also following better-than-expected results.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar strengthened to 159.69 Japanese yen from 159.48 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1701 from $1.1705.