Oil Prices Crash 4%, Asian Markets Soar Amid US-Iran Ceasefire Hopes

Asian markets mostly rose on Monday as investors breathed a sigh of relief after the US and Iran paused their fighting over a possible resumption of negotiations on an interim ceasefire deal.

The US futures surged early in the day, with Brent crude prices dropping 4.6% to $87.46 per barrel and U.S. benchmark crude falling 5.1% to $84.79 per barrel.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.2%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.8%. China's CXMT, a memory chipmaker, skyrocketed about 470% in its trading debut on Shanghai's technology board, making it the country's most valuable listed company with an estimated market capitalization of 3.3 trillion yuan ($490 billion).

However, investors are still concerned about rising energy costs and inflationary pressures, which have been squeezing consumers and looming over the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy.

The Fed meets this week, but higher prices may lead to a potential rate hike to tamp down higher prices. Corporate earnings reports are also focusing on the sustainability of profits from a boom in spending on artificial intelligence.