Asian shares trade mixed as oil prices rise

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were trading mixed Monday after a cooldown in oil prices last week helped U.S. stocks close out their first winning week in the last three.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was little changed, inching down less than 0.1% to 66,333.53.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3% to 8,688.60. South Korea's Kospi dipped 2.3% to 6,916.30. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.7% to 24,684.09, while the Shanghai Composite lost 1.7% to 3,820.82.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude gained 1% to $93.33 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1.8% to $106.19 a barrel.

Last week, Brent oil had momentarily dropped to $97-levels. The price is volatile because of uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow oil to flow freely again from the Middle East, including access to the Strait of Hormuz .

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 added 0.5% to break a three-day losing streak marked by big swings due to rising yields in the bond market . The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 478 points, or 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.5%.

Weighing on Wall Street last week were rising expectations for high inflation in the U.S. That's potentially dangerous for the economy because they could encourage behavior that leads to a vicious cycle that makes the cost of living spiral even higher.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury briefly jumped to 5.22% last Friday, up from 5.18% late Thursday, and was near its highest level since 2007. High yields slow the economy by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money, while undercutting prices for stocks and other investments.

The 10-year yield has been jumping since the start of the war with Iran, when it was at 3.97%. But yields eased later in trading on Friday as the price of oil pulled lower, and the 10-year yield fell back to 5.15%. That helped stocks on Wall Street regain strength.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 39.28 points to 7,743.41. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 478.64 to 51,828.62, and the Nasdaq composite gained 129.34 to 27,068.72.

In currency trading in Monday's trading in Asia, the U.S. dollar rose to 157.76 Japanese yen from 157.19 yen. The euro cost $1.1392, little changed from $1.1393.

AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.

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