Shares fall in Asia and oil prices gain as talks stall on ending the Iran war

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TOKYO (AP) — Shares retreated in Asia and oil prices gained on Tuesday as diplomatic efforts to end the Iran war once again appeared to stall.

Despite a tenuous ceasefire, the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed. Much of Asia, including resource-poor Japan, relies on that route for its oil shipments.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 1.1% to 59,884.12 after the central bank opted to keep its key interest rate unchanged at 0.75%.

The Bank of Japan said that while the economy was still growing moderately it was expected to slow as the war pushes for crude oil and other products higher. The vote by its monetary policy board at 6-3 was not unanimous. Pressures have been growing for Japan to gradually raise interest rates after keeping them near or below zero for years to combat deflation.

“There are various risks to the outlook," it said in a statement. “For the time being it is necessary to pay particular attention to the impact of the future course of the situation in the Middle East.”

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea's Kospi edged up 1% to 6,683.10.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.7% to 25,751.04, while the Shanghai Composite shed 0.2% to 4,078.77.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.6% to 8,717.80.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude to be delivered in June climbed $1.11 to $109.34. Brent to be delivered in July, which is where more of the trading is happening in the oil market, rose $1.08 to $102.77 per barrel.

Brent prices were at about $70 per barrel before the war and have briefly shot to nearly $120. Benchmark U.S. crude added 96 cents to $97.33 a barrel.

The U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, and Bank of England will also be announcing interest-rate decisions this week.

On Monday, the S&P 500 inched 0.1% higher to its latest all-time high, at 7,137.91, a downshift following weeks of big gains driven by strong corporate profit reports and hopes that the economy can avoid a worst-case scenario despite the war.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.1% to 49,167.79. The Nasdaq composite index edged 0.2% higher.

Investors are also looking ahead to earnings reports from some of Wall Street’s most influential stocks, including Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Apple.

In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher following the rise in oil prices. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.33% from 4.31% late Friday.

In currency trading early Tuesday, the U.S. dollar inched down to 159.04 Japanese yen from 159.42 yen. The euro cost $1.1716, down from $1.1720.

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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.

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