A currency dealer monitors exchange rates in front of a big screen showing South Korea’s benchmark stock index (C) and the Korean won/USD exchange rate (R) in a foreign exchange dealing room at the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on April 9, 2025.
Jung Yeon-je | Afp | Getty Images
South Korea’s Kospi opened more than 5% higher Tuesday, leading a rebound in the region, after oil prices fell and Wall Street bounced back as U.S. President Donald Trump signaled the conflict with Iran could be nearing its end.
Oil prices fell over 10% after Trump said he was considering seizing control of the Strait of Hormuz, the most important chokepoint in world for the crude market. Trump also told a CBS News reporter, who shared the comments in a post on X, that “the war is very complete, pretty much.”
International Brent crude was down 10% at $8.90 per barrel at 9.10 p.m. ET Monday. U.S. crude oil fell more than 9% to $86.05 per barrel. The declines came after oil surged past $100 on Monday.
The declines came after oil surged past $100.
“With 20% of world oil supply stopped, we have the largest interruption ever,” said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, in reference to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The biggest disruption before the current war was during the Suez Crisis of 1956 when Britain, France and Israel invaded Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, the energy consulting firm told clients in a Sunday note. At that time, roughly 10% of global oil supply was disrupted.
Other Asia stock indexes also gained. The small-cap Kosdaq added over 4%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.35% in early trade.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.66%, while the Topix gained 1.3%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.56%, while the CSI 300 gained 0.9%.
Travel-related stocks also rebounded. Hong Kong-listed shares of Air China rose nearly 3%, while China Eastern Airlines added 2.9%. China Southern Airlines gained 2.85%. Singapore Airlines rose 1.54%.
Overnight in U.S. stocks advanced. The S&P 500 rose 0.83% to close at 6,795.99, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 239.25 points, or 0.5%, and ended at 47,740.80. The blue-chip index is coming off its biggest weekly slide in nearly a year. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.38% and settled at 22,695.95.
Those moves mark an impressive turnaround from the losses seen earlier in the day. The Dow was down nearly 900 points at its session low, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq had dropped as much as 1.5% each.
