Global markets edge higher on ceasefire hopes

World shares were mostly up Friday, tracking Wall Street gains while oil prices also rose on the fragile Iran war ceasefire and ahead of Iran-US talks in Pakistan. In early European trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.2 per cent to 10,627.69. France’s CAC 40 also gained 0.2 per cent to 8,265.80, while Germany’s DAX rose 0.2 per cent to 23,844.89. Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Friday. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1.4 per cent to 5,858.87. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.8 per cent to 56,924.11.

Shares of Fast Retailing, parent of Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo, surged 12 per cent after the group raised profit expectations for the year. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.6 per cent to 25,893.54, while the Shanghai Composite index was 0.5 per cent higher at 3,986.22. China on Friday reported that its consumer price index - a main inflation gauge - was up 1 per cent in March compared with a year ago, lower than what analysts had expected and down from the 1.3 per cent increase in February. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.1 per cent, while Taiwan’s Taiex rose 1.6 per cent.

Talks between the US and Iran in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, for a possible permanent ceasefire agreement in the Iran war are expected to take place starting Saturday, with US Vice President JD Vance leading the delegation for the United States. But ahead of the talks, deadly Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Wednesday raised questions about whether the two-week ceasefire in the Iran war is still intact, while the Islamic Republic maintained control over the Strait of Hormuz, which is largely closed despite demands from the US to reopen the waterway critical for global oil and gas transport. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had authorised talks with Lebanon, with negotiations said to be expected in Washington next week. Oil was up on Friday. Brent crude, the international standard, was 1.8 per cent higher at USD 97.68 per barrel. Benchmark US crude was up 1.9 per cent to USD 99.76 a barrel. For oil prices, “USD 65-70 a barrel is not coming back,” Ajay Rajadhyaksha of Barclays wrote in a recent research note, referring to the pre-Iran war oil price levels. The bank predicts that Brent crude could remain at around USD 85 per barrel on average for this year. “A ceasefire is not a refund,” he wrote. “Ceasefires end wars; they don’t undo them.” On Thursday, Wall Street gained on hopes of a ceasefire in the Iran war. The S&P 500 added 0.6 per cent to 6,824.66. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.6 per cent to 48,185.80, while the Nasdaq composite gained 0.8 per cent to 22,822.42. Shares of Constellation Brands, which sells Modelo and Corona beers in the US, jumped 8.5 per cent following better-than-expected quarterly results. Cloud services provider CoreWeave was 3.5 per cent higher after announcing an expanded deal with Meta Platforms through 2032. Meta was up 2.6 per cent. In other dealings, gold and silver prices fell. Gold’s price lost 1.1 per cent to USD 4,765.60 per ounce, while silver prices dropped 1.7 per cent to USD 75.13 per ounce.