AI Sentiment Buoys Asian Stocks; Oil Prices Gain as Hopes Fade for U.S.-Iran Talks — Update

By Megan Cheah

Oil prices rose Tuesday on fading optimism about talks between the U.S. and Iran at this week's United Nations meeting, while Asian equities inched higher as artificial-intelligence sentiment strengthened.

World leaders are set to converge at the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York, where both President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are scheduled to speak.

Trump is expected to meet with a number of Middle East leaders during his stay in New York. Multiple diplomats said Qatari officials plan to use the gathering to discuss the possibility of resuming talks. However, no one appears to be expecting major breakthroughs, given the lack of confirmation for formal talks with Iran during the event.

"Confirmation of direct talks between Washington and Tehran could place additional selling pressure on prices by improving expectations for regional supply," said FXTM head of market research Lukman Otunuga. "Conversely, Tehran has warned that renewed escalation would trigger a significant response, which could push crude prices higher."

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also played down the likelihood of talks in New York. "It is a complex set of problems that requires a serious dialogue between the U.S. and Iran, between Iran and the countries of the Gulf, including the mediators," he told reporters last week. "Probably it will take place somewhere else."

Front-month Brent crude oil futures were last up 1.6% at $101.99 a barrel, while front-month WTI was 1.7% higher at $97.40 a barrel, according to ICE data.

Asian equities broadly gained. Taiwan's Taiex closed 0.2% higher after touching a record intraday high, led by gains in circuits and semiconductors. South Korea's Kospi was up 0.25%, paring earlier gains.

The earlier advance came amid renewed optimism about chip demand, as high interest in Meta Platforms' new AI agent in the U.S. boosted global AI stocks. Chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics account for around 50% of the Kospi's market value.

China's Shanghai Composite Index ticked 0.1% higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.2%, led by AI rivals Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group. The former launched its latest image-generation model that showed the company's latest AI progress, while the latter unveiled its new AI chip and outlined plans for a larger AI model at its annual conference.

Japanese financial markets are closed for holidays through Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Asian currencies were mixed against the dollar. Strong export data and the earlier large fall in oil prices likely lent support to the Korean won, said OCBC strategists in a note. The dollar was down 1.4% at 1355.10 won. Other Asian currencies were little moved, with the dollar up 0.05% at 157.44 yen and the Australian dollar 0.1% higher at US$0.71, according to LSEG data.

Write to Megan Cheah at megan.cheah@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 22, 2026 02:35 ET (06:35 GMT)