Media365
Hong Kong stocks rose and crude oil fell on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump signalled that the Iran war might be nearing an end.
The Hang Seng Index rose 1.5 per cent to 25,799.39 as of 9.37am. The Hang Seng Tech Index surged 1.7 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index rose 0.9 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.2 per cent.
On Monday, Trump said that the US objectives in Iran were “pretty well complete” and the war would end soon. “We took a little excursion” to the Middle East “to get rid of some evil. And, I think you’ll see it’s going to be a short-term excursion.”
However, he hinted that the worst fighting could still be ahead if Iran attempted to stop global oil supplies.
Brent crude oil fell more than 10 per cent to about US$88 a barrel after shooting past US$110 on Monday and West Texas Intermediate also fell at a similar pace to about US$86 a barrel.
China’s stronger-than-expected year-on-year consumer price growth of 0.8 per cent during the January-February period, released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday, supported sentiment.
