Asian shares trade mixed after Wall Street rally despite Iran war worries

Currency traders react near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

2026-05-12T04:18:58Z

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares traded mixed Tuesday as optimism encouraged by a record rally on Wall Street clashed with anxiety about surging oil prices and a possible AI bubble.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.6% to 62,828.07. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 2.7% to 7,610.10, in what analysts are categorizing as fallout from overreliance on fraying AI hopes.

“Global equities remain dangerously dependent on a tiny cluster of AI leaders, creating a rally structure that looks powerful on the surface but increasingly fragile underneath,” said Stephen Innes, analyst with SPI Asset Management.

He believes South Korea may be among the first major economies that will undergo what he called “the political redistribution phase of the AI boom.”

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.4% to 8,670.70. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost earlier gains and fell less than 0.1% to 26,395.36, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.4% to 4,210.44.

Oil prices continued to rise, as the war with Iran threatened to drag on. Benchmark U.S. crude rose $1.57 to $99.64 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed $1.30 to $105.51 a barrel.

U.S. President Donald Trump described the U.S.-Iran ceasefire as on “life support” after rejecting Iran’s latest proposal to end the war. That raises the stakes for Trump’s trip this week to China. China is the biggest buyer of Iran’s sanctioned crude oil.

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The war has already sent the price for a barrel of Brent racing up from prewar levels of roughly $70 and delivered inflation through the global economy. The war has shut the Strait of Hormuz and kept oil tankers stuck in the Persian Gulf instead of delivering crude to customers worldwide.

Still, some companies are reporting bigger profit than analysts expected, which means the U.S. economy is holding up even though households are feeling discouraged by expensive gasoline and tariffs.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% from its prior all-time high set Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 95 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.1% to reach its own all-time high.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 13.91 points to 7,412.84. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 95.31 to 49,704.47, and the Nasdaq composite gained 27.05 to 26,274.13.

In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher. The 10-year yield rose to 4.40% from 4.38% late Friday.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 157.43 Japanese yen from 157.12 yen. The euro cost $1.1754, down from $1.1787.

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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

YURI KAGEYAMA Kageyama covers Japan news for The Associated Press. Her topics include social issues, the environment, businesses, entertainment and technology. twitter instagram facebook mailto