{"id":86632,"date":"2026-05-26T18:12:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T08:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/?p=86632"},"modified":"2026-05-26T18:12:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T08:12:16","slug":"tuesday-26th-may-2026-asia-markets-mixed-as-south-koreas-kospi-hits-record-high-on-iran-peace-hopes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/tuesday-26th-may-2026-asia-markets-mixed-as-south-koreas-kospi-hits-record-high-on-iran-peace-hopes\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday 26th May 2026: Asia Markets Mixed as South Korea\u2019s Kospi Hits Record High on Iran Peace Hopes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3><br \/>Global Markets:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>&nbsp;Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.16%, Shanghai Composite down 0.84% Hang Seng up 0.45% ASX down 0.40%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Commodities : Gold at $4,565.75 (-0.87%) Silver at $76.963 (-1.83%), Brent Oil at $95.25 (1.96%), WTI Oil at $91.83 (1.68%)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rates : US 10-year yield at 4.506, UK 10-year yield at 4.9060, Germany 10-year yield at 2.9489<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>News &amp; Data:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>(GBP) BRC Shop Price Index y\/y&nbsp; 1.2%&nbsp; to 1.1% &nbsp; expected<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>Markets Update:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Tuesday as investors assessed renewed optimism surrounding U.S.-Iran peace talks, while South Korea\u2019s benchmark index surged to a record high after reopening from a public holiday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>South Korea\u2019s Kospi climbed to an all-time high of 8,094.90 in early trading, supported by stronger investor sentiment and hopes that diplomatic negotiations between Washington and Tehran could ease geopolitical tensions. The small-cap Kosdaq also advanced 1.34%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that negotiations with Iran were \u201cproceeding nicely,\u201d though he cautioned that the U.S. could resume military action if talks collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oil prices showed mixed movement following Trump\u2019s remarks. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for July delivery dropped 5.24% to $91.54 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude gained 1.80% to $97.87.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite optimism, tensions in the Middle East remained elevated. U.S. Central Command said it carried out \u201cself-defense strikes\u201d against Iranian missile launch sites and vessels allegedly attempting to lay mines near the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Elsewhere, Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.32% after hitting the 65,000 mark for the first time Monday, while Australia\u2019s ASX 200 fell 0.38%. Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng gained 0.45%, while India\u2019s Sensex declined 0.35%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Upcoming Events:<br \/><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>02:00 PM GMT &#8211; USD CB Consumer Confidence<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Global Markets: News &amp; Data: Markets Update: Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":84958,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[196,215,339],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86632"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86633,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86632\/revisions\/86633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}