By Sherry Qin


Oil prices rose and Asian equities were lower early Thursday after U.S. forces conducted new military strikes against Iran, casting doubts on hopes of a U.S.-Iran peace deal.

U.S. officials said American forces shot down Iranian drones and hit a drone-control station near Bandar Abbas, a major port city in southern Iran, after Tehran launched drones at commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures gained 1.7% to $90.17 a barrel, while front-month Brent crude oil futures advanced 1.8% to $95.99 a barrel.

"The oil market remains confused about the ongoing geopolitics," Julius Baer analyst Norbert Rücker said in a note, as recent military attacks complicate earlier news about progress on the negotiations.

Asian equities fell Thursday morning after a recent rally driven by strong earnings and AI developments. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average edged 0.2% lower and South Korea's Kospi declined 1.0%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.2% and the Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.3%.

Antonio Di Giacomo at XS.com said the market still believes that geopolitical risks haven't fully disappeared, keeping volatility high across commodities and currencies.

Precious metals also declined. Spot gold was 0.8% lower at $4,419.35 a troy ounce and spot silver decreased 1.8% to $73.33 a troy ounce. Though gold is still viewed as a safe-haven asset, the mix of geopolitical uncertainty, inflation pressure and rate expectations has triggered heavy profit-taking, Antonio Di Giacomo said.

Asian currencies mostly weakened against the U.S. dollar. The yen weakened to the lowest level in nearly a month against the dollar. The dollar was recently at 159.54 yen after earlier rising to Y159.60, the highest level since April 30. The greenback was up 0.3% to 1,506.30 won and 0.1% higher to 32.65 Thai baht.


Write to Sherry Qin at sherry.qin@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-27-26 2231ET