Oil Prices Bounce Back As US-Iran Talks Progress

Today, oil prices edged up after Monday's drop, despite remaining below $80. The price rise comes as the US Treasury temporarily lifted sanctions on Iran, allowing it to produce, sell, and deliver crude oil and related products until August 21.

Maritime trackers also indicated an uptick in tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. This has been seen as a positive sign for the oil market, as the strait is a critical channel for much of the world's oil.

US Vice President JD Vance said that a 'very good foundation' had been laid for negotiations towards a final deal, and that Iran would allow UN nuclear inspectors to return to the country. He made this statement after meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

However, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei contradicted this claim, stating that 'a very brief discussion took place regarding the nuclear issue, but there was no discussion of details'.

President Trump, speaking to reporters, said the Strait of Hormuz was now 'totally open' to shipping, after Iran had closed it in response to US and Israeli forces bombing the country in late February.

Asian equities fluctuated after a tech-led sell-off on Wall Street, with investors questioning the AI-fuelled boom. Crude prices largely held losses, which came after positive US-Iran talks.

Traders are struggling to build on last week's rally, sparked by news of a deal to end the Middle East conflict. Tech firms, the main driver of the surge across world markets, took a hit in Asia.

Samsung and SK hynix, South Korean chip giants, tumbled, dragging the Kospi index down more than three percent. Despite this, the index is still up over 100 percent since the start of the year.

Tokyo was also in the red, with SoftBank shedding more than seven percent, and Tokyo Electron down. Taipei and Shanghai were down, while Hong Kong and Sydney remained flat.

Singapore, Wellington, and Manila edged up. The tepid performance followed a sharp drop on Wall Street, where the Nasdaq sank more than one percent as Amazon, Nvidia, and Microsoft were sharply down.

Elon Musk's SpaceX, however, was the main victim of the day, plunging more than 16 percent – wiping hundreds of billions off its valuation – after a record IPO and a winning trio of opening trading sessions.

This fall came as the rocket and satellite company disclosed plans for an 'inaugural' bond offering of unspecified quantity.

The SpaceX disclosure comes as a large equity round was announced earlier this month by Google parent Alphabet, and a data centre venture between Microsoft and Chevron. These developments underscore the hefty capital toll of the artificial intelligence drive.

Monday's selling revived worries about the wisdom of the vast sums being pumped into artificial intelligence, with little sign of returns being made soon. Traders are also fretting over the extended valuations of some firms, with Nvidia topping $5 trillion.

The AI-fuelled boom has seen tech firms, led by Nvidia and Microsoft, drive surges across world markets. However, this has also led to valuations becoming stretched, and the bar for success higher than ever.

Nvidia, which has seen its stock price soar in recent months, now trades around 12 percent below its recent peak. Amazon is also trading at a similar low, while Microsoft and Meta Platforms sit not far above their March lows.

Attention is also on Tokyo as the yen sits just below a 40-year low against the dollar, following the Federal Reserve's hawkish turn last week. Concerns are growing that the Japanese central bank may not be doing enough to fight inflation.

Japanese authorities spent over $70 billion last month propping up the currency as it weakened against the greenback.

The currency has been a major focus for traders, with exchange rates also in the spotlight. Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have spoken about exchange rates, according to NHK and Kyodo News.