Nikkei 225, Kospi, Hang Seng Index
Mount Fuji and Shinjuku skyline in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, February 14, 2025. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Asia-Pacific markets traded higher on Wednesday as investors weighed the ongoing Middle East war.
of Australia S&P/ASX 200 It rose 0.35% in early trading.
of japan Nikkei 225 It was up 1.36% while Topix was up 1.22%. South Korean Kospi gained 3.2%, while small-cap Kosdaq gained 1.39%.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index increased by 0.43%, while CSI 300 increased by 0.19%.
Oil prices, which rose to nearly $120 a barrel on Monday at the height of fears over the Iran conflict, have fallen from that high as traders believed a group of countries would tap emergency crude oil reserves to ease disruptions caused by the conflict.
US crude oil was last traded at $86.15 per barrel, up 3.24%.
“The most immediate impact of the oil shock is that it acts like a tax on the economy. When energy prices rise, households spend more on fuel and utilities and less on everything else, which quietly slows consumer demand across the economy,” said David Johnson, chief executive of financial services firm Vervent.
Shares of Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Nio, listed in Hong Kong, increased by more than 15 percent after this announcement. The company reported a sharp recovery Fourth quarter results were driven by increased deliveries, better product mix and cost cuts.
Vehicle deliveries in the fourth quarter increased by 71.7% year-on-year to 124,807 units, while revenue increased by 75.9% to 34,650.2 million yuan ($4,954.9 million) and vehicle margin increased to 18.1% from 13.1% in the previous year.
Overnight in the US, the S&P 500 fell slightly in volatile trading as oil prices fell and investors monitored the Iran war.
The broad market index ended at 6,781.48, down 0.21 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 34.29 points (0.07 percent) to close at 47,706.51 points. Nasdaq Composite index increased by 0.01 percent to 22,697.10 points.
At the beginning of the session, the Dow index was down as much as 296.57 points, or 0.6%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were at their lowest levels, down 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.
