Asian shares advance and oil prices rise ahead of Fed rate decision

Key Points:

• Asian stock markets mostly rose despite Wall Street losses, with South Korea’s Kospi up 0.8%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gaining 1.5%, and Shanghai Composite increasing 0.7%, while Japan’s markets were closed for a holiday.
• Oil prices climbed due to uncertainties around the Iran war and the United Arab Emirates’ planned exit from OPEC, which is expected to increase oil output but reduce OPEC’s ability to manage the global oil market effectively.
• U.S.-Iran negotiations remain stalled, with Iran offering to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if U.S. sanctions are lifted, but the U.S. continues to demand progress on Iran’s nuclear program before any deal.
• Wall Street saw declines in major indexes, with the S&P 500 down 0.5%, the Dow Jones down 0.1%, and the Nasdaq down 0.9%, led by losses in AI-related stocks such as Broadcom, Nvidia, and Micron Technology.
• Investors are awaiting the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, while currency markets showed a slight rise in the U.S. dollar against the Japanese yen and a small decline in the euro against the dollar.