Oil prices sink nearly 7% and world shares gain as Chinese chipmaker CXMT soars in Shanghai debut

Oil prices sink nearly 7% and world shares gain as Chinese chipmaker CXMT soars in Shanghai debut 1 of 5 | The screens show the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) 2 of 5 | A dealer walks past near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) 3 of 5 | The screens show the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) 4 of 5 | A dealer walks past near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) 5 of 5 | A dealer walks past near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) By ELAINE KURTENBACH Updated 11:20 AM MESZ, July 27, 2026 Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit BANGKOK (AP) — World shares were mostly higher Monday and oil prices slipped nearly 7% as the U.S. and Iran refrained from fighting while discussing a possible resumption of negotiations on an interim ceasefire deal. Shares in Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT soared 466% as they began trading on Shanghai’s technology board. The company jumped to become China’s most valuable listed company with an estimated market capitalization of 3.3 trillion yuan (nearly $490 billion). The Pentagon did not respond to questions about the pause in attacks on Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure after nearly two weeks of escalating fighting sparked by Iran’s firing at ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz. But markets reacted with relief. U.S. futures surged early Monday and the price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 6.8% to $85.49. U.S. benchmark crude dropped 7% to $83.06 per barrel. “Oil’s sharp retreat at the Monday open did more than knock a few dollars off the barrel. It loosened the geopolitical knot that had been tightening around equities, currencies, bonds and central banks for most of July,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary. In early European trading, Germany’s DAX gained 1.6% to 25,497,42 and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.8% at 8,436.94. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5% to 10,784.00. Oil prices jump as fighting flares in the Middle East, while AI-led retreat pulls Asian stocks lower 3 MIN READ 63 Stocks waver on Wall Street while crude oil prices fall for the first time in a week 3 MIN READ 494 AI stocks lead Wall Street higher, even as Brent oil’s price tops $91 3 MIN READ 494 The futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 1%. In Asian trading, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.5% to 64,931.19, while the KOSPI in South Korea advanced 1% to 6,755.75. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 1% to 25,207.18, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 1.2% to 3,858.25. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 surged 1.4% to 8,894.00. Taiwan’s Taiex slipped 0.1% and the Sensex in India added 1.1%. On Friday, the S&P 500 barely budged, picking up less than 0.1% and notching its second straight losing week for the first time since March. The Dow industrials rose 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite index slipped 0.6%, weighed down by sharp losses for heavyweights like Micron Technology, which fell 7%, and Broadcom, which lost 2.7%. Recent surges in energy prices and fresh tariffs announced last week by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump could result in hotter inflation, which has been squeezing consumers and looming over the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy. The Fed meets this week, though rising inflation has dashed hopes for an interest-rate cut anytime soon. Wall Street has been leaning toward a potential rate hike to tamp down higher prices. Higher energy costs are taking up a bigger share of household budgets, which have shifted toward more basic needs, like gasoline. Nationally, a gallon of gasoline costs $4.11 per gallon, according to AAA. That is still lower than this spring as the conflict in Iran expanded, but almost a dollar higher than last year at this time. “Oil is the fastest-moving tax in the global economy. When crude rises sharply, consumers feel it at the fuel pump, airlines and transport companies feel it in their operating costs, manufacturers feel it in their logistics, and central banks begin worrying that the initial supply shock will spill over into broader inflation expectations,” Innes said. Meanwhile, corporate earnings reports are focusing attention on the sustainability of broader profits from a boom in spending on artificial intelligence. Tech giants like Alphabet and Nvidia have been spending heavily to expand AI capacity and investors increasingly are questioning whether they will generate profits to justify the massive stock values that have pushed markets market higher throughout the year. In other dealings early Monday, the U.S. dollar slipped to 163.56 Japanese yen from 163.64 yen. The euro rose to $1.1399 from $1.1398. ELAINE KURTENBACH 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. twitter mailto