Stocks retreat and oil tops US$100 despite fresh records on Wall Street

A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

HONG KONG — Shares retreated in Europe and Asia on Thursday after an initial jump that pushed Japan’s Nikkei 225 index above 60,000 for the first time, while oil prices climbed above US$100 a barrel as investors reacted to shaky prospects for more talks on ending the war with Iran.

U.S. futures also fell back after indexes on Wall Street rallied to records a day earlier, helped by strong corporate earnings.

Germany’s DAX lost 0.5% to 24,064.00, while the CAC 40 in Paris edged 0.2% higher. Britain’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.8% to 10,395.83.

The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.5% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6%.

Markets in Japan and South Korea briefly touched new records, driven by buying of tech shares. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.8% to 59,140.23 after climbing to 60,013.98.

South Korea’s Kospi closed 0.9% higher at 6,475.81 after briefly surpassing 6,500. The government reported a better-than-expected 1.7% annual economic growth rate for the January-March quarter, boosted by strong exports, particularly of computer chips used in the artificial intelligence boom.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1% to 25,915.20, while the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.3% to 4,093.25.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.6% to 8,793.40.

Taiwan’s Taiex lost 0.4% and the Sensex in India sank 1%.

A growing sense of unease over prospects for an end to the Iran war, which is in its eighth week, is weighing on investor sentiment even after U.S. President Donald Trump extended a ceasefire. It’s unclear whether and when another round of peace talks will take place.

Iran fired on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday after the U.S. began imposing a sea blockade of Iranian ports last week, and Trump said the U.S. would continue its blockade of Iranian ports.

Maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly a fifth of the world’s oil normally passed before the war, is still largely halted and the likelihood of its reopening dimmed after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard seized two of the three ships that were attacked.

Global energy prices have surged on the Iran war energy shock. Brent crude, the international standard, was up $1.81 early Thursday at $103.72 per barrel. It was around $70 a barrel before the Iran war began in late February.

Benchmark U.S. crude rose gained $1.73 to $94.69 per barrel.

As hopes for a resolution between the U.S. and Iran fade and peace talks stall, the oil market “is having to reprice expectations,” ING Bank strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey said in a research note.

“If no progress is made, the market will become increasingly numb to the noise and headlines that have dictated price action recently,” they wrote.

Wall Street set more records Wednesday following a series of strong corporate earnings and an extension of the Iran war ceasefire, with the benchmark S&P 500 jumping 1% to 7,137.90, eclipsing its previous record high set on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.7% to 49,490.03, while the Nasdaq composite also set a record, gaining 1.6% to 24,657.57.

Shares of GE Vernova jumped 13.7% after the company reported stronger-than-expected quarterly profits. The energy equipment maker is also benefiting from the AI boom with robust equipment orders including for data centers. Boeing gained 5.5%, and Philip Morris International was up 7%, also following better-than-expected results.

The U.S. dollar rose to 159.69 Japanese yen from 159.48 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1701, down from $1.1705.

Chan Ho-him, The Associated Press