TOKYO: Global shares mostly rose in cautious trading Tuesday, as oil prices continued to surge ahead of a deadline that US President Donald Trump set for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping traffic or risk its power plants and bridges being bombed.
France's CAC 40 jumped 1.3 per cent to 8,066.18 in early trading, while the German DAX added 0.8 per cent to 23,360.26. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.2 per cent to 10,460.13.
US shares were set to drift slightly higher with Dow futures up 0.1 per cent at 46,963.00. S&P 500 futures inched up less than 0.1 per cent to 6,652.50.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained less than 0.1 per cent to close at 53,429.56. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.7 per cent to 8,728.80. South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.8 per cent to 5,494.78. The Shanghai Composite edged up 0.3 per cent to 3,890.16. Trading was closed in Hong Kong for a holiday.
In energy trading, benchmark US crude rose 38 cents to USD 112.79 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 23 cents to USD 110.00 a barrel. That remains well above its roughly USD 70 price from before the war.
Oil prices have been seesawing amid uncertainty over the war in the Middle East and how long it will slow the global flow of oil and natural gas. Iran on Monday rejected the latest ceasefire proposal and instead said it wants a permanent end to the war.
The Mizuho Daily, by the research team in Singapore at Mizuho Bank, noted Trump's latest actions mark “an escalation cycle that has now been extended several times since his first ultimatum in late March.”
“Given the differing perspectives, hopes of a complete resolution to the conflict remain elusive while countries continue to work on bilateral solutions,” it said.
As talks continued, Iranian and Omani officials were also working on a mechanism for administering the strait through which a fifth of the world's oil is shipped in peacetime. Iran's grip on it has shaken the world economy.
In currency trading, the US dollar edged down to 159.56 Japanese yen from 159.62 yen. The euro cost USD 1.1566, up from USD 1.1543.