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Asian markets gained in early trading Tuesday as Middle East tensions remained high, but at least didn’t rise any higher.
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday said U.S. troops are not planning on pulling out of Iraq, despite the release of a draft letter than suggested as much, and also said that despite threats from President Donald Trump, the U.S. would not target Iranian cultural sites if further hostilities break out.
U.S. stocks gained Monday after a mid-session rally, and crude oil prices, which had surged the past two trading days since a U.S. airstrike killed a top Iranian general in Iraq, retreated Tuesday amid the geopolitical lull. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery
CLG20, -1.11%
and March Brent crude
BRNH20, -1.18%
, the global benchmark, were last both down more than 1%. Gold prices
GCG20, -0.53%
also fell from a seven-year high Monday.
Japan’s Nikkei
NIK, +1.39%
jumped 1.4%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index
HSI, +0.50%
rose 0.5%. The Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP, +0.36%
edged up 0.4% while the Shenzhen Composite
399106, +0.79%
advanced 0.8%. South Korea’s Kospi
180721, +0.95%
gained 1%. Stocks rose in Singapore
STI, +0.64%
, but fell in Taiwan
Y9999, -0.64%
and were about flat in Indonesia
JAKIDX, -0.12%
. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200
XJO, +1.36%
rose 1.2%.
Among individual stocks, Sony
6758, +3.56%
gained in Tokyo trading, as did auto makers such as Toyota
7203, +1.78%
, Honda
7267, +2.36%
and Mazda
7261, +2.40%
. In Hong Kong, casino operator Galaxy Entertainment
27, +2.58%
rose; along with tech giant Tencent
700, +1.96%
. Samsung
005930, +0.72%
advanced in South Korea, while Oil Search
OSH, +2.22%
and Westpac
WBC, +1.19%
gained in Australia.
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