BANGKOK, June 25, (AP): Shares rose in Europe and Asia on Wednesday after US stocks climbed to near their all-time high. Oil prices gained more than 1% after falling about 6% on Tuesday on hopes that Israel’s war with Iran will not hinder the global flow of crude. The fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel, announced by Trump a day earlier, appeared to be holding after a rocky start.

US benchmark crude gained 1.8% to $65.54 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 1.7% to $67.30. Lower oil prices could give the Federal Reserve leeway to cut interest rates to help the US economy. Its chair, Jerome Powell, said Tuesday the central bank is waiting to see how the economy evolves before deciding whether to reduce its key interest rate, a stance directly at odds with President Donald Trump’s calls for immediate cuts.

"For the time being, we are well positioned to wait to learn more about the likely course of the economy before considering any adjustments to our policy stance,” Powell said in testimony Tuesday before the House Financial Services Committee. In early European share trading, Germany's DAX was flat at 23,642.70 and the CAC 40 in Paris edged 0.2% higher to 7,632.78. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.4% to 8,789.92, while US futures were little changed.

Shares advanced in Asia, where Tokyo's Nikkei 225 picked up 0.4% to 38,942.07. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced 1.2% to 24,471.70 and the Shanghai Composite index jumped 1% to 3,455.97. "The world can now move on to face other difficult choices like tariffs and things like that. So I think the market is well on its way to rebound and could again reach new levels,” said Frances Lun, CEO of GEO Securities in Hong Kong.

In South Korea, the Kospi edged less than 0.1% higher to 3,108.25, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 also was barely changed, at 8,559.20. Taiwan's Taiex gained 1.1% and the Sensex in India was up 0.8%. In Bangkok, the SET added 0.3% after the Thai central bank opted to keep its key interest rate unchanged. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 climbed 1.1%, following up on big gains for stocks across Europe and Asia, after Trump said late Monday that Israel and Iran had agreed to a "complete and total ceasefire.”