Global shares scale new peaks as markets eye shaky US-Iran truce

May 27, 2026 9:07 AM

Global shares scale new peaks as markets eye shaky US-Iran truce

Asian shares climbed to record highs while oil prices remained elevated on Wednesday, as markets looked for signals that a shaky truce between the United States and Iran will be extended. The dollar held gains from the previous session after Iran said the U.S. had violated a ceasefire. New Zealand's dollar rose after the central bank kept its policy rate unchanged but signalled future hikes will need to come sooner. Japanese and South Korean shares scaled fresh peaks after major U.S. stock mar...

Asian shares fall as US yields hit one-year high

May 15, 2026 9:30 AM

Asian shares fall as US yields hit one-year high

Asian shares came under pressure on Friday as investor euphoria over tech stocks gave way to inflation fears that saw Treasury yields spike to one-year highs and rising bets on a U.S. rate hike this year. Oil prices kept climbing amid the lack of progress to open the Strait of Hormuz, and as U.S. President Donald Trump said China wanted to buy U.S. oil. Attacks on one ship and the seizure of another stoked concerns about energy supplies, with Brent crude futures up 5.7% this week to $107 a barr...

Asian shares extend selloff as global bond rout fuels fresh anxiety

January 21, 2026 10:02 AM

Asian shares extend selloff as global bond rout fuels fresh anxiety

Asian stocks extended their losses for a third session on Wednesday, undone by heightened tensions over U.S. threats to acquire Greenland ahead of President Donald Trump's Davos speech, while a global bond rout appeared to slow for now. Fears of offshore selling of U.S. assets - the so-called "Sell America" trade that emerged after last year's "Liberation Day" tariff announcements in April - gripped markets as Wall Street tumbled over 2% overnight and the U.S. dollar suffered its biggest fall i...

Global shares scale fresh tops in Asia, oil slips on truce talks

August 18, 2025 9:14 AM

Global shares scale fresh tops in Asia, oil slips on truce talks

Share markets edged higher in Asia on Monday ahead of what is likely to be an eventful week for U.S. interest rate policy, while oil prices slipped as risks to Russian supplies seemed to fade a little. A general risk-on mood saw indices in Japan and Taiwan make record peaks, while Chinese blue chips reached their highest in 10 months. U.S. President Donald Trump now seemed more aligned with Moscow on seeking a peace deal with Ukraine instead of a ceasefire first, after meeting Russian Presiden...

Asian shares fall as Nvidia hit by U.S. chips curbs, gold hits record

April 16, 2025 9:07 AM

Asian shares fall as Nvidia hit by U.S. chips curbs, gold hits record

Shares fell in Asia on Wednesday as AI darling Nvidia took a hit from U.S. curbs on chip sales to China, highlighting the damage to come in a tit-for-tat global trade war, while gold hit a record and the dollar stayed under pressure. Data showed that China's economy grew 5.4% in the first quarter from a year earlier, beating expectations, although trade tensions with the U.S. have clouded the outlook. Overnight, President Donald Trump ordered a probe into potential new tariffs on all U.S. crit...

Global stocks slump as US tariffs hit tech hardest

April 3, 2025 9:29 AM

Global stocks slump as US tariffs hit tech hardest

Stocks dived and investors scrambled to the safety of bonds, gold and the yen on Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a bigger-than-expected wall of tariffs around the world's largest economy, upending trade and supply chains. The high-flying tech sector was pummelled as manufacturing hubs in China and Taiwan faced new tariffs above 30%, bringing the total new levy to an eye-watering 54% on imports from China. "The U.S. effective tariff rate on all imports look to be the highest le...

A man stands in front of a live view of the Nikkei 225 index. Photo by Stanislav Kogiku/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images/Files

February 3, 2025 9:02 AM

Asian stocks slump, dollar soars as Trump tariffs trigger trade war fear

Asian stock markets slumped on Monday and U.S. equity futures pointed sharply lower after U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China triggered fears of a broad trade war and hit to global growth. The U.S. dollar shot to a record peak against the Chinese yuan in offshore trading, and its highest against Canada's currency since 2003 and the strongest against the Mexican peso since 2022. Japan's Nikkei share average tumbled as much as 2.3% in early trading, and Australia'...

Tech drags global shares lower on China’s AI push; dollar dips

January 27, 2025 4:08 PM

Tech drags global shares lower on China’s AI push; dollar dips

European and Asian shares slumped on Monday as investors weighed the implications of Chinese startup DeepSeek's launch of a free open-source artificial intelligence model to rival OpenAI's ChatGPT. Meanwhile, the dollar dipped as broad U.S. import tariffs remained on the back burner, even as U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Colombia with levies to punish the country for earlier refusing to accept flights carrying deported migrants. China's DeepSeek rolled out a free AI assistant that it ...