Wall Street Records and Middle East Uncertainty Drive Divergent Asian Trading
Asian equity markets delivered a mixed performance on Monday as investors weighed fresh Wall Street records against persistent uncertainty over the Iran conflict and its implications for global oil supply.
Asian Markets: Winners and Laggards
Technology stocks drove sharp gains in Northeast Asia, with Taiwan’s Taiex surging 4.2% and South Korea’s Kospi rising 3.8%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.4% to close at 26,135.47.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 bucked the positive trend, slipping 0.3% to 8,704.70. Markets in mainland China and Japan remained closed for Golden Week holidays.
Wall Street Extends Its Run
Friday’s session on Wall Street saw the S&P 500 climb 0.3% to a fresh all-time high of 7,230.12, closing out a fifth consecutive winning week. The Nasdaq composite added 0.9% to reach a record close of 25,114.44, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.3% lower to 49,499.27.
Apple was the standout performer, rallying 3.3% after delivering stronger-than-expected quarterly profits. As one of Wall Street’s largest constituents by market capitalisation, its gains provided the single most powerful upward force on the S&P 500.
Corporate earnings have broadly exceeded expectations for the first quarter of 2026. Of the roughly quarter of S&P 500 companies that have reported so far, 84% have beaten analysts’ estimates, according to FactSet. The index is on track to deliver approximately 15% year-on-year profit growth — a robust outcome even against the backdrop of the Iran conflict and elevated oil prices weighing on consumer confidence.
Oil Steady as “Project Freedom” Gets Under Way
Oil prices held broadly stable after President Donald Trump announced that the United States would begin escorting vessels through the Strait of Hormuz from Monday morning, under what he termed “Project Freedom.” The operation will involve guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 aircraft, and 15,000 service members, according to US Central Command, though the Pentagon declined to provide immediate details on deployment.
US benchmark crude fell marginally by 21 cents to $101.74 per barrel, while Brent crude edged 5 cents higher to $108.19 per barrel. Iran rejected the US escort plan, though Trump indicated that diplomatic talks with Tehran could yet yield positive results.
The oil market, in the words of Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management, “remains the fulcrum, with hundreds of tankers, bulk carriers, and cargo ships still stranded across the Gulf, idling as storage constraints force producers to shut production simply because there is nowhere left to store it.”
Energy Majors Feel the Squeeze
Brent crude was trading at just above $70 per barrel before the Iran conflict began. The subsequent price surge helped ExxonMobil and Chevron beat quarterly profit forecasts, yet both stocks fell — Exxon by 1% and Chevron by 1.4% — as oil prices retreated on Friday and each company reported net income declines compared with a year earlier.
The trajectory of oil prices remains the central variable for the global economic outlook. A prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz would keep tankers bottled up in the Persian Gulf, disrupting crude deliveries worldwide and sustaining inflationary pressure on energy markets.
Currency Markets
In foreign exchange, the dollar strengthened to 157.18 Japanese yen from 156.80 yen, while the euro weakened slightly to $1.1724 from $1.1746.