Asian Stocks Rise as Oil Prices Retreat Amid Iran Tensions

Oil prices retreated on Thursday after recent gains, but Asian stocks mostly rose in sync with Wall Street's advances. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 1% to $94.69 per barrel, while US crude shed 0.9% to $90.18 a barrel.

The downward trend in oil prices comes as President Donald Trump said he doesn't expect the US bombing campaign against Iran to last 'much longer', which had previously driven oil prices sharply higher earlier in the week.

Asian stocks, however, followed Wall Street's lead with most indices rising. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 0.2%, while the Kospi in South Korea rose 0.3%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong edged 0.6% lower, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5%.

The US futures also edged higher, tracking Wall Street's gains from Wednesday when the benchmark S&P 500 gained 0.5%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.5%. The AI boom has been driving the S&P 500's gains this year.