Morning brief: Iran talks, Asian stocks rise, AI IPO lifts Hong Kong

Global markets woke up to a familiar mix of fear and opportunism on Tuesday.

The latest twist in the US-Iran conflict kept traders focused on diplomacy, not just bombs and blockades.

Vice President JD Vance had not yet left for Pakistan, even as Trump said a delegation would travel for talks and Iran weighed whether to attend.

Oil swung on every headline, while a big Hong Kong listing in an Nvidia-linked supplier showed risk appetite is still alive.

Diplomacy on edge

The White House’s Iran playbook remained unsettled on Monday, with Vice President JD Vance still in the United States and having not yet departed for Pakistan.

Trump said a US delegation would go before the ceasefire deadline.

The group was expected to include Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, but the timing was unclear.

Iran, for its part, was only “considering” attendance, which kept the market guessing about whether the next round of talks would even happen.

Asian stocks steady

The uncertainty did not stop Asian equities from finding a bid.

MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index ex-Japan rose 0.9%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.2%, and South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.1% to a record high, helped by renewed enthusiasm for AI.

Australia bucked the trend and slipped 0.3%.

The tone was cautious rather than euphoric: investors were still watching the ceasefire closely, but the prospect of talks in Islamabad was enough to support risk assets.

US futures were slightly firmer, while the previous session on Wall Street had already shown nerves around the fragile truce.

Oil price seesaw

Oil was again the market’s best real-time barometer of the conflict.

Brent crude fell 0.6% to $94.94 a barrel, and WTI for the more-active June contract slipped 0.9% to $86.66 after a sharp jump the day before.

Monday’s surge came after Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz again and the US seized an Iranian cargo ship as part of its blockade of Iranian ports.

Traders are still trying to decide whether the ceasefire will be extended or collapse, and analysts say the market may be underpricing the risk of a prolonged supply shock.

Shipping through Hormuz remains heavily restricted.

AI listing stays hot

The clearest sign that investors are still willing to take risks came from Hong Kong, where Victory Giant Technology surged 60% in its debut.

The printed circuit board maker raised HK$20.1 billion, or $2.6 billion, in the city’s biggest listing in about seven months.

Its shares opened 57.2% higher and briefly touched HK$336.2.

The deal was heavily oversubscribed, with the retail tranche covered 431 times.

Victory Giant makes boards for AI servers and other electronics, and its strong debut underlined continued demand for AI-linked names even as broader markets were rattled by war headlines and supply-chain worries.

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