Asian shares surge after oil prices slip and Wall Street resumes its AI rally

World shares are mixed, Kospi gains 8.4%, as tech-led rally fades 1 of 5 | A Global Medical Response helicopter sits in front of the New York Stock Exchange before the planned IPO of GMR Solutions, Inc., Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) 2 of 5 | A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) 3 of 5 | Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) 4 of 5 | A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 18, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) 5 of 5 | Trader Edward McCarthy works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) 1 of 5 | A Global Medical Response helicopter sits in front of the New York Stock Exchange before the planned IPO of GMR Solutions, Inc., Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) 1 of 5 A Global Medical Response helicopter sits in front of the New York Stock Exchange before the planned IPO of GMR Solutions, Inc., Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 5 | A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) 2 of 5 A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 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 | Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) 3 of 5 Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 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 4 of 5 | A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 18, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) 4 of 5 A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 18, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 5 of 5 | Trader Edward McCarthy works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) 5 of 5 Trader Edward McCarthy works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) 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] Shares opened lower in Europe on Thursday after a mixed session in Asia, where a rebound in oil prices eclipsed another broad rally on Wall Street.South Korea’s Kospi soared 8.4% to 7,815.59, helped by strong buying of technology shares such as Samsung Electronics, which gained 8.5% after its labor union and management reached an agreement late Wednesday that averted a potentially costly strike. Shares in SK Hynix, a computer chipmaker partnering with Nvidia, surged 11.2%. The advance was partly powered by a stronger-than-expected quarterly report from chipmaker Nvidia, whose profit rocketed more than 200% higher in the February-April quarter from a year earlier, while revenue jumped 85%. Nvidia has been one of the biggest beneficiaries from the boom in artificial intelligence, thanks to powerful demand for its high-end AI chips. Its shares rose 1.3% on Wednesday before its earnings report was released, but they fell 1.3% in afterhours trading after the announcement. The Kospi has been breaching records, recently exceeding 8,000 for the first time.U.S. futures slipped, with the contract for the S&P 500 down 0.3%, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2%. 1 MIN READ 3 MIN READ 3 MIN READ In early European trading, Germany’s DAX gave up 0.3% to 24,669.59, while the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.2% to 8,102.25. Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 0.4% to 10,393.56. In other Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 3.1% to 61,684.14 after the government reported that Japan’s exports rose nearly 15% in April from a year earlier, despite shocks from the Iran war. Technology-related shares were among the biggest winners, with Tokyo Electron gaining 5.9% and Advantest up 4.4%. Taiwan’s Taiex, also heavily weighted toward technology shares, gained 3.9% as major chipmaker TSMC’s stock gained 3%.Chinese markets declined, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng losing 1.2% to 25,352.82. The Shanghai Composite index dropped 2% to 4,077.28. Indonesia’s share benchmark dropped 3.3% as the market absorbed the impact of a government decision to put strategic natural resource exports such as coal under state control. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 picked up 1.5% to 8,621.70.Oil prices pushed higher early Thursday, a day after Brent crude had dropped 5%. Brent, the international standard, gained $1.46 to $106.48 per barrel, while U.S. benchmark crude added $1.53 to $99.79 per barrel. Brent remains well above its roughly $70 level from before the war with Iran. Prices have been yo-yoing on rising and falling hopes that the United States and Iran can reach an agreement to allow oil deliveries to fully resume from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide.On Wednesday, U.S. stocks bounced back, with the S&P 500 gaining 1.1% for its first rise in four days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.3% and the Nasdaq composite rallied 1.5%.Stocks got a lift from easing yields in the bond market, as the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.57% from 4.67% late Tuesday. That’s a significant move for a market that measures things in hundredths of a percentage point. The 10-year Treasury yield had been rising from less than 4% before the war with Iran began, along with other government bond yields around the world, because of worries that the fighting will keep oil prices high, among other factorsHigh yields slow economies and weigh on prices for stocks, cryptocurrencies and all kinds of other investments. Besides driving up rates for mortgages, they could also curtail companies’ borrowing to build the artificial-intelligence data centers that have been supporting the U.S. economy’s growth recently.With the easing of yields, technology stocks helped lead Wall Street higher. Advanced Micro Devices jumped 8.1%, while Intel gained 7.4%.Smaller companies can feel even bigger relief from lower yields than their bigger rivals because many need to borrow to grow. The Russell 2000 index of the smallest U.S. stocks jumped 2.6%, more than double the gain of the S&P 500, which measures the biggest U.S. stocks.Most big U.S. companies have reported better profits for the start of 2026 than analysts expected, which has helped stocks run to records. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term.In other dealings early Thursday, the U.S. dollar rose to 159.05 Japanese yen from 158.92 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1601 from $1.1624. Based in Bangkok, Kurtenbach is the AP’s business editor for Asia, helping to improve and expand our coverage of regional economies, climate change and the transition toward carbon-free energy. She has been covering economic, social, environmental and political trends in China, Japan and Southeast Asia throughout her career.