Asian stocks gain and oil falls on hopes of renewed US-Iran talks

HONG KONG: Asian stocks were trading higher tracking Wall Street gains and oil fell on Tuesday as expectations rose over a possible second round of talks between the US and Iran to end West Asia conflict.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was up 2.4 per cent to 57,842.72. South Korea's Kospi jumped 3.4 per cent to 6,004.30.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.4 per cent to 25,759.75, while the Shanghai Composite index climbed 0.6 per cent to 4,010.45. China on Tuesday reported worse-than-expected export growth of 2.5 per cent in March for the first month since the Iran war began.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3 per cent, and Taiwan's Taiex rose 2.2 per cent.

Investors are still hopeful for a lasting de-escalation of the Iran war, which is in its seventh week, as the US and Iran are said to be weighing a second round of talks before a temporary ceasefire agreement expires next week. The US military on Monday began a blockade of Iranian ports as Washington steps up its pressure on Tehran, following ceasefire talks between the two sides over the weekend that ended without an agreement.

But US President Donald Trump also suggested on Monday that the United States is still willing to engage with Tehran. “I can tell you that we've been called by the other side,” he said, without further elaborating details.

Oil prices continued to pull back on Tuesday from earlier gains. Brent crude, the international standard, was down 1.3 per cent to USD 98.12 per barrel. It reached nearly USD 104 early Monday morning over Iran war worries on limited progress from the weekend ceasefire talks.

Benchmark US crude fell 2.2 per cent early Tuesday to USD 96.92 a barrel.

The global energy shock stemming from maritime traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly a fifth of the world's oil is typically transported, has led to surging fuel prices and is threatening to push up inflation in many countries and impact economic growth.

Wall Street rose on Monday. The S&P 500 gained 1 per cent to 6,886.24. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.6 per cent to 48,218.25, and the Nasdaq composite added 1.2 per cent to 23,183.74.

Shares of investment bank Goldman Sachs dropped 1.9 per cent despite its announcement of better-than-expected quarterly profits.

In other dealings, gold and silver prices rose on Tuesday. Gold's price was up 0.6 per cent to USD 4,796.60 an ounce, while silver prices gained 1.8 per cent to USD 77.05 per ounce.

The US dollar fell to 159.08 Japanese yen from 159.45 yen. The euro was trading at USD 1.1768, up from USD 1.1759.