Asian Equities Rise, Oil Falls on U.S.-Iran Talk Hopes -- Update

By Ronnie Harui and Sherry Qin

Asian equities rose while oil fell on Tuesday amid hopes for further U.S.-Iran peace talks, spurring appetite for risky assets and easing concerns over crude supply disruptions in the Middle East.

U.S. President Trump said that the "right people" in Iran still want a U.S.-Iran deal after talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that full efforts were being made to resolve the outstanding issues between the U.S. and Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot that although Iran was unable to reach an agreement with the U.S. over the weekend, negotiations had progressed on many issues, echoing comments by the Trump administration that suggest both sides see room to continue talking.

China, a major net oil importer, expressed that it's ready to play a constructive role in promoting peace and stability in the Gulf, said Premier Li Qiang, according to state media Xinhua News Agency.

Asia markets broadly ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 2.4%, South Korea's Kospi gaining 2.7% and China's Shanghai Composite Index adding 0.95%.

Risk sentiment has improved as Trump signaled Iran had reached out seeking fresh negotiations, Commerzbank Research analysts said.

"The U.S. and Iran are reportedly in discussions about a second round of face-to-face talks for a longer-term ceasefire and before the two-week ceasefire expires next week on 21 April," they said.

Hopes for further talks also boosted bitcoin's price by 1.8% to $74,556.65 on Tuesday, the highest level in nearly a month. What happens over the next few weeks with the strait will define the 2026 bitcoin market trajectory, said Nic Puckrin, macro analyst and co-founder of Coin Bureau.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures fell 2.8% to $96.34 per barrel and front-month Brent crude oil futures declined 1.1% to $98.32 a barrel, ICE data showed.

"Markets lurched from oil?driven fear to cautious relief as oil retreated and diplomacy resurfaced," said OCBC's FX strategists in a note.

However, concerns lingered over the Strait of Hormuz, which handles one-fifth of the world's daily supply of oil and liquefied natural gas, as the U.S. began its naval blockade of the Strait.

The blockade would possibly remove around two million barrels of oil which Iran has continued to ship through the strait each day.

Neither the U.S. nor Iran has "publicly committed to another round of negotiations," said Carol Kong, of Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "The U.S. blockade will test the durability of the fragile cease-fire" between the two countries, Kong added.

Write to Ronnie Harui at [e-mail] and Sherry Qin at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-14-26 0408ET