WORLD

Asian shares slide as Russia-Ukraine conflict, OPEC+ output plan push oil prices higher

Jun 1, 2025, 9:34 PM | Updated: Jun 2, 2025, 5:28 am

A dealer walks past a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at a dealing roo...

A dealer walks past a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares sank on Monday and oil prices jumped as trade tensions and the Russian-Ukraine conflict ratcheted up geopolitical uncertainty.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng plunged more than 2% as Beijing and Washington traded harsh words over trade. U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that he will double tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50% layered on still more worries for investors.

A report over the weekend that China’s factory activity contracted in May, although the decline slowed from April as the country reached a deal with the U.S. to slash President Donald Trump’s sky-high tariffs, further undermined market sentiment.

Markets in mainland China were closed for a holiday.

Oil prices rallied after OPEC+ decided on a modest increase in output beginning in July. It was the third monthly increase in a row.

U.S. benchmark crude oil gained $1.60 to $62.39 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, was up $1.41 at $64.19 per barrel.

Moscow pounded Ukraine with missiles and drones just hours before a new round of direct peace talks in Istanbul and a Ukrainian drone attack destroyed more than 40 Russian planes deep in Russia’s territory, Ukraine’s Security Service said on Sunday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 2.2% to 22,778.45 as China and the U.S. accused each other of breaching their tariff agreement reached in Geneva last month.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.6% to 37,356.97, while the Kospi in Seoul fell 0.4% to 2,686.17.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 retreated 0.2% to 8,416.00.

On Friday, Wall Street closed its best month since 2023. The S&P 500 retreated less than 0.1% to end at 5,911.69 and the Dow industrials Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% higher to 42,270.07. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.3% to 19,113.77.

Gap weighed on the market even though the retailer reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

The company behind Banana Republic and Old Navy fell 20.2% after saying tariffs on imports from China and other countries could add up to $300 million to its costs this fiscal year. It has strategies set to mitigate up to half of that before it hits its profits.

Hopes had largely been rising that the worst of such worries had passed, which in turn sent stocks rallying, after Trump paused his tariffs on both China and the European Union. A U.S. court then on Wednesday blocked many of Trump’s sweeping tariffs. That all sent the S&P 500 in May to its first winning month in four and its best since November.

But the tariffs remain in place while the White House appeals the ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade, and the ultimate outcome is still uncertain.

Friday’s most influential losses came from several Big Tech stocks. Nvidia fell 2.9% to give back some of its gain from earlier in the week after it topped analysts’ expectations for profit in the latest quarter. It was the single heaviest weight by far on the S&P 500.

On the winning side of Wall Street was Ulta Beauty, which rose 11.8% after the retailer reported stronger sales and profit than analysts forecast. It also raised the top end of its forecasted range for revenue this fiscal year even though CEO Kecia Steelman called the operating environment “fluid.”

Costco climbed 3.1% after the retailer’s results and revenue for the latest quarter edged past analysts’ expectations.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased after a report showed that the measure of inflation that the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower in April than economists expected.

A separate report from the University of Michigan said that sentiment among U.S. consumers was better in May than economists expected. Sentiment improved in the back half of the month after Trump paused many of his tariffs on China.

In currency trading early Monday, the U.S. dollar fell to 143.55 Japanese yen from 143.87 yen. The euro inched up to $1.1364 from $1.1351.

World

Associated Press

Israel and Iran trade strikes for a third day as nuclear talks are called off

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel unleashed airstrikes across Iran for a third day on Sunday and threatened even greater force as some Iranian missiles evaded Israeli air defenses to strike buildings in the heart of the country. Planned talks on Iran’s nuclear program, which could provide an off-ramp, were called off. The region […]

15 hours ago

FILE - A boat navigates large icebergs near Kulusuk, in eastern Greenland, on Aug. 15, 2019. (AP Ph...

Associated Press

First direct flight from US to Greenland since 2008 lands on Trump’s birthday

NUUK, Greenland (AP) — The first direct flight from the U.S. to Greenland by an American airline landed in the capital city of Nuuk on Saturday. The United Airlines-operated Boeing 737 Max 8 departed from Newark International Airport in New Jersey at 11:31 a.m. EDT (1531 GMT) and arrived a little over 4 hours later, […]

1 day ago

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to journalists during a press conference in Kyiv, Uk...

Associated Press

Zelenskyy warns oil price surge could help Russia’s war effort

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A sharp rise in global oil prices following Israeli strikes on Iran will benefit Russia and bolster its military capabilities in the war in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday in comments that were under embargo until Saturday afternoon. Speaking to journalists in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said the surge in oil […]

1 day ago

Associated Press

UN conference on Palestinian state postponed because of Middle East tensions

PARIS (AP) — A top-level U.N. conference on a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians scheduled for next week has been postponed amid surging tensions in the Middle East, French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday. France and Saudi Arabia were due to co-chair the conference hosted by the U.N. General Assembly in New York […]

2 days ago

FILE - Cuban doctors arrive at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba, June 8, 2020, ...

Associated Press

A letter demanding data on Cuban medical missions roils the Caribbean and the Americas

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — An unusual request from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights about Cuban medical brigades that operate worldwide and provide much needed help has roiled countries in the Caribbean and the Americas. In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, the commission asks members of the Organization of American States, […]

2 days ago

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI)...

Associated Press

Oil prices surge and markets retreat after Israel’s strike on Iran

HONG KONG (AP) — Oil prices surged and Asian shares were lower Friday after Israel struck Iranian nuclear and military targets in an attack that raised the risk of all-out war between them. U.S. benchmark crude oil rose by $3.93, or 5.8%, to $71.97 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, increased by $3.82 to […]

3 days ago

Asian shares slide as Russia-Ukraine conflict, OPEC+ output plan push oil prices higher