Asian Shares Decline Amid Oil Price Rise, Inflation Worries

Asian shares declined on Tuesday as rising oil prices and concerns about inflation offset the boost from robust corporate earnings reports. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 2.5% to 67,460.73. South Korea's Kospi lost 1.6% to 6,869.83, with analysts attributing the decline to investors selling shares in the local market and investing in U.S. stocks due to wild swings linked to artificial intelligence.

The S&P/ASX 200 was little changed, inching down less than 0.1% to 9,070.00. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.2% to 25,513.65, while the Shanghai Composite added 0.2% to 3,990.30.

Robust earnings reports in Asia and the U.S., partly tied to AI, have helped counter worries about the war in Iran's impact on global oil flow and energy prices. Japan imports almost all its oil.