Asian shares mixed and oil prices fall after Trump says US and Iran met at the UN

23/09/2026

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between US Dollar and South Korean Won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea on Sept 23. (AP)

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HONG KONG, Sept 23, (AP): Asian shares were mixed Wednesday after Wall Street held near its record and oil prices fell following US President Donald Trump’s remarks that United States and Iranian officials had a "very good” meeting Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. US futures edged up. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.9% to 7,080.92. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.1% to 24,821.84.

The Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.4% to 3,936.52. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.1% to 8,765.30. Taiwan’s Taiex was 0.8% higher, while India’s Sensex was up 0.5%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was closed on Wednesday for a holiday and will resume trading Thursday.

Oil prices fell Tuesday and remained below $100 a barrel after Trump said US and Iranian officials met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York following his threat during an address to the annual gathering that the US might "annihilate” the Islamic Republic if a deal couldn’t be made.

"Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world,” Trump said. "Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?” Brent crude, the international standard, was down 0.6% to $98.68 per barrel.

That was still elevated compared to the roughly $72 per barrel level from late February before the Iran war. Diplomatic progress between the US and Iran helped fuel the fall in oil prices Wednesday, ING commodities strategists Ewa Manthey and Warren Patterson wrote in a commentary. They said oil prices eased also on optimism over reports that Saudi Arabia was restarting operations at a key oil pipeline.

Several major technology stocks in Asia traded higher Wednesday after US technology shares gained. Samsung Electronics rose 3.3%, while South Korean memory chipmaker SK Hynix added 1.2%.

Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, were up 1.6%. Investors have been monitoring the debate in the U.S. over whether to slow down artificial intelligence development, while AI is also expected to be high on the agenda when Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington this week.