BANGKOK (AP) — Shares fell Wednesday in Europe and Asia and oil prices surged more than 2% after the U.S. launched strikes on Iran following attacks on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 2.2% to $75.80 a barrel, while U.S. benchmark crude added 2.1% to $71.94 a barrel. Both had declined recently to around the levels they were at before the war with Iran began in late February.
The flareups despite commitments to seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict have added to uncertainty over oil prices after they fell from their peak well above $100 during the war. They also have coincided with waves of worries that the craze for artificial intelligence-related shares has pushed prices beyond the productivity gains and profits likely to result from massive investments in computer chip production capacity and data centers.
“As such, geopolitical headlines will likely determine market sentiment over the coming hours. A further deterioration in the situation could weigh further on equity valuations along with rising stress in technology,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote said in a commentary.
In share trading, Germany's DAX shed 1.1% to 25,191.69 and the CAC 40 in Paris gave up 0.9% to 8,358.67. Britain's FTSE 100 slid 0.8% to 10,579.09.
The future for the S&P 500 edged 0.1% lower and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.4%.
In Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 2.1% to 66,819.05, while the Kospi in South Korea shed 5.4%, to 7,246.79.
The South Korean index has soared and then fallen back, briefly surpassing the 9,000 level last month and then succumbing to bouts of heavy selling of big AI-related tech shares like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Samsung fell 6.3% early Wednesday after dropping about 7% the day before. SK Hynix shed early gains to drop 5.7%.
Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.6%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng rose 3% to 24,193.56.
Hong Kong traded shares of Chinese AI model startup Zhipu, known also as Z.ai and traded as Knowledge Atlas Technology, rose nearly 14% on Wednesday.
A six-month lock up period for “cornerstone” investors after its $558 million trading debut in Hong Kong in early January expires this week. State-owned China National Radio reported late Tuesday that nearly 70% of Zhipu’s cornerstone investors are committed to stay on, despite previous worries that the lock up period expiration could trigger a sell-off of shares. Zhipu’s share price has risen more than 1,300% since its January trading debut in Hong Kong.
The Shanghai Composite index declined 0.5% to 3,970.88.
Elsewhere in Asia, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.2% to 8,785.10, while India's Sensex lost 0.7%.
On Tuesday, the roller-coaster ride for AI stocks whipped back down, dragging Wall Street lower.
The S&P 500 fell 0.4%, though the majority of stocks within the index rose.
The drops for stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry dragged the Nasdaq composite 1.2% lower, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.2%.
Advanced Micro Devices sank 6.5% and Intel shed 9.7%. Micron Technology lost 4.7%.
SpaceX, which owns the xAI business, fell 6.8% in its first day of trading after it was included in the Nasdaq 100 index.
Rivian Automotive dropped 18.1% after the electric vehicle company said it’s selling 75 million shares of its stock, a move that dilutes the ownership stakes of earlier shareholders.
In other trading early Wednesday, the U.S. dollar rose to 162.26 Japanese yen from 162.11 yen. The euro climbed to $1.1426 from $1.1414.
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AP Business Writer Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
