News Screen – World oil prices strengthened again in trading Wednesday, June 3 2026, amid uncertainty over the peace process between the United States and Iran. On the other hand, the majority of Asian stock markets continued to record increases thanks to investor optimism regarding the technology sector and developments in artificial intelligence (AI).
The increase in oil prices occurred after market players assessed that there had been no concrete progress in efforts to end the conflict that had been going on for several months in the Middle East region.
Even though United States President Donald Trump stated that communication with Iran was continuing and the opportunity to reach a peace agreement was still open, investors chose to wait for more definite developments.
Also read: Asian markets are alert after Trump postpones attack on Iran, oil prices weaken
Geopolitical tensions have become a concern again after reports emerged that Iran had stopped communicating regarding regional conflicts. However, Trump denied the news and emphasized that talks between Washington and Tehran were continuing.
On the ground, the security situation is still unstable. Israel is reportedly continuing to launch attacks on Lebanon, while Iran is also carrying out military actions that raise concerns about regional security, including energy trade routes in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
The United States military on Tuesday claimed it had succeeded in thwarting a number of Iranian missile and drone attacks in the Gulf region. This condition further strengthens market concerns about potential disruptions to global energy supplies.
As a result, world crude oil prices continue to move up. Brent crude oil was recorded to have strengthened almost two percent to 97.81 US dollars per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose two percent to 95.65 US dollars per barrel. In the past week, Brent has strengthened more than five percent and WTI has jumped around 10 percent.
Despite being overshadowed by geopolitical uncertainty, Asian stock markets have shown strong resilience. Investors continue to hunt for technology stocks that are considered to benefit greatly from the growth of the artificial intelligence industry.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange was the one that recorded the biggest gain with the Nikkei 225 index jumping 2.5 percent. This increase was supported by shares of semiconductor companies such as Tokyo Electron which shot up more than 13 percent and Advantest which rose 5.1 percent.
In Taiwan, the stock market index also strengthened by around two percent thanks to the rise in shares of leading chip company Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
Meanwhile, the Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore and Manila stock exchanges also closed in the green zone. IG Market Analyst, Chris Beauchamp, said that investors’ attention is currently more focused on the technology sector than geopolitical developments.
According to him, the wave of massive investment in the field of artificial intelligence is still the main factor driving global market optimism.
This positive sentiment was also supported by the strengthening of the main US stock index. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes again set record highs, driven by a surge in shares of technology companies.
One of them is Marvell Technology which jumped more than 32 percent after receiving positive attention from Nvidia CEO, Jensen Huang.
In addition, United States economic data showing an increase in the number of job vacancies to the highest level in almost two years also strengthened investors’ confidence in global economic conditions.
Market players are now waiting for the United States employment report which will be released next Friday. This data is expected to be an important consideration for the Federal Reserve in determining the direction of its next interest rate policy.***
