Asian Shares Mixed, U.S. Futures Rise After Long Weekend

Asian shares showed a mixed performance on Monday, while U.S. futures moved upward following the Wall Street’s long weekend closure. Meanwhile, technology shares’ decline in Tokyo and Seoul impacted local benchmarks negatively. Despite OPEC+ announcing increased oil production, oil prices slightly decreased.

OPEC+ stated on Sunday that seven member countries plan to boost oil output by a total of 188,000 barrels per day in August. This marks the fifth consecutive month of increased production plans. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman are the countries set to raise their production levels.

Supply uncertainties remain due to stalled talks with Iran regarding reopening the Strait of Hormuz. This delay coincides with the ongoing funeral ceremonies for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, expected to last several days.

In energy trading, Brent crude slipped by 2 cents, settling at $72.10 a barrel, while the U.S. benchmark crude increased by 20 cents, reaching $68.89 a barrel.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell by 0.3%, closing at 69,568.27. Notably, SoftBank Group Corp declined by 3.3%, and chipmaker Tokyo Electron experienced a 1.0% drop. In South Korea, the Kospi index dipped 0.7%, landing at 8,033.16.

Conversely, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng grew by 0.8% to 23,540.58, while the Shanghai Composite index slightly fell less than 0.1%, concluding at 4,042.08. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 also fell by 0.2% to 8,831.00.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar appreciated against the Japanese yen, rising to 162.08 yen from 161.34 yen. A comparison reveals the dollar was trading at 140 yen a year ago. The euro price decreased slightly to $1.1425 from $1.1440.

U.S. markets remained closed on Friday, July 3, due to the Independence Day holiday. With July 4th falling on a Saturday this year, the holiday was observed the previous day.