Shares are mostly higher in Asia, with Kospi up 4%, while oil prices gain

Shares are mostly higher in Asia, with Kospi up 4%, while oil prices gain 1 of 5 | Children wade in the water with cargo ships at anchor in the background and a fisherman nearby, in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP,File) 2 of 5 | Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) 3 of 5 | A general view shows the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) 4 of 5 | Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) 5 of 5 | Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) 1 of 5 | Children wade in the water with cargo ships at anchor in the background and a fisherman nearby, in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP,File) 1 of 5 Children wade in the water with cargo ships at anchor in the background and a fisherman nearby, in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP,File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 5 | Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) 2 of 5 Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 3 of 5 | A general view shows the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) 3 of 5 A general view shows the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 4 of 5 | Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) 4 of 5 Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 5 of 5 | Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) 5 of 5 Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher Wednesday after U.S. stocks slipped a bit further from their records, while oil prices advanced as doubts persisted over when the war with Iran will allow crude to flow freely again.Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.6% to 67334.94. In South Korea, the Kospi gained 4% to 6,597.90 on renewed buying of computer chipmakers. Samsung Electronics gained 7.7% and memory chipmaker SK Hynix was up 7.1%. Taiwan’s Taiex advanced 0.8%. The Shanghai Composite index added 0.3% to 3,946.51, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong slipped 1.2% to 25,352.13.In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.6% to 9,197.00.The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, was up 0.9% at $89.67 early Wednesday. U.S. benchmark crude oil picked up 0.9% to $83.98. Iran has rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s comment that since Iran is seeking compensation as part of any talks on ending the war, he would demand the same. The United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February, which led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and kept much of the world’s oil pent up in the Middle East. Last month alone, Brent’s price veered between $72 and $102 per barrel.Meanwhile an attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on a vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, at Yemen’s southern tip, has raised concerns that the violence could reignite civil war and further threaten regional shipping routes. 4 MIN READ 3 MIN READ 3 MIN READ Higher oil prices make inflation worse, and they have sent the average cost for a gallon of regular gasoline to $4.01, according to AAA. That’s up from less than $3.14 a year ago. That has Wall Street’s attention focused on Wednesday, when the U.S. government will release the latest monthly reading on inflation. Economists expect it to show inflation slipped to 3.4% in July from 3.5% in June.Tuesday on Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% for a second modest drop since setting its all-time high on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 184 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.6%.Cooler inflation could relieve pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to help tamp down price increases. Higher rates could curb inflation but they also would drag on the overall U.S. economy by making it more expensive for households and businesses to borrow money. They also would undercut prices for stocks and other investments. In other dealings early Wednesday, the U.S. dollar rose to 159.41 Japanese yen from 159.30 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1535 from $1.1544.Associated Press Business Writers Matt Ott and Stan Choe contributed to this report.