Asian shares and U.S. futures were mixed on Monday following a long weekend on Wall Street, while selling of technology shares pulled benchmarks in Tokyo and Seoul lower.
Oil prices slipped after OPEC+ announced Sunday that seven of its members plan to expand oil production by a combined total of 188,000 barrels per day in August. It was the fifth consecutive month OPEC+ members have agreed to raise output.
The countries increasing their output are Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman.
Uncertainty over supplies persists as talks with Iran aimed at fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz appear to be on hold during funeral ceremonies for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which will continue for several days.
In energy trading early Monday, Brent crude, the international standard, lost 25 cents to $71.87 a barrel. U.S. benchmark crude lost 10 cents to $68.59 a barrel.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.4% to 69,468.17. Tech giant SoftBank Group Corp. declined 3.4%, while computer chipmaker Tokyo Electron shed 1.4%.
South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.8% to 8,027.12
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained 0.8% to 23,542.97, while the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% higher to 4,046.71.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 inched down 0.1% to 8,833.20.
In currency treading, the U.S. dollar rose to 161.92 Japanese yen from 161.34 yen. A year ago, the dollar was trading at 140 yen levels. The euro cost $1.1432, down from $1.1440.
Markets in the U.S. were closed on Friday, July 3, for the Independence Day holiday. This year, July 4th fell on a Saturday.
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Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama
