Oil prices jumped and equities fluctuated Tuesday as investors weighed Donald Trump called for Tehran residents to evacuate and hopes that the conflict between Israel and Iran does not descend into all-out war.While the crisis in the Middle East continues to instill uncertainty, talk that the Islamic republic wanted to make a nuclear deal was providing some optimism.After Friday’s surge sparked by Israel’s attacks on its regional foe, crude ticked more than one percent lower Monday as traders bet that the conflict would not spread throughout the Middle East and key oil sites were mostly left untouched.Prices bounced back Tuesday after Trump called for the evacuation of the Iranian capital, which is home to nearly 10 million people.”Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign,” he said on social media, referring to nuclear talks that were taking place.”What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”Trump later poured cold water on remarks from French President Emmanuel Macron that he was leaving the G7 summit in Canada to discuss a possible ceasefire.Oil climbed more than one percent in late Asian trade Tuesday, after swinging between gains and losses through the day.Gains were tempered after the International Energy Agency said in its 2025 report that global demand would fall slightly in 2030 for the first time since the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020.It cited “below-trend economic growth, weighed down by global trade tensions and fiscal imbalances, and the accelerating substitution away from oil in the transport and power generation sectors”.Traders are keeping a wary eye on developments in the Iran crisis, with the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz leaving Southeast Asia on Monday after cancelling a Vietnam visit as the Pentagon announced it was sending “additional capabilities” to the Middle East.Trump has maintained that Washington has “nothing to do” with Israel’s campaign, but Iran’s foreign minister said Monday the US leader could halt the attacks with “one phone call”.Tehran has said it would hit US sites if Washington got involved.Meanwhile, Britain, France and Germany called on Iran to quickly return to the negotiating table over its nuclear programme, a French diplomatic source said.The US president had earlier said Iran wanted to make a deal, adding “as soon as I leave here, we’re going to be doing something”.He later left the gathering in the Rockies, telling reporters: “I have to be back as soon as I can. I wish I could stay for tomorrow, but they understand, this is big stuff.”Tehran had signalled a desire to de-escalate and resume nuclear talks with Washington as long as the United States did not join the conflict, according to the Wall Street Journal.Equities were mixed in Asian trade, with Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Manila, Bangkok, Jakarta and Taipei all advancing, while Hong Kong, Sydney, Wellington and Mumbai struggled along with London, Paris and Frankfurt.Shanghai was flat.Dealers also kept tabs on the G7 summit, where world leaders pushed back against Trump’s trade war, arguing it posed a risk to global economic stability.Britain, Canada, Italy, Japan, Germany and France called on the president to reverse course on his plans to impose even steeper tariffs on countries across the globe next month.On currency markets the yen edged up against the dollar after the Bank of Japan stood pat on interest rates and said it would slow the tapering of its bond purchases.- Key figures at around 0810 GMT -West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.3 percent at $72.67 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.2 percent at $74.11 per barrelTokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 percent at 38,536.74 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 23,980.30 (close)Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,387.40 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 8,824.48 Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1561 from $1.1562 on MondayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3567 from $1.3579Dollar/yen: DOWN at 144.46 yen from 144.79 yenEuro/pound: UP at 85.22 pence from 85.12 penceNew York – Dow: UP 0.8 percent at 42,515.09 (close)

The Bank of Japan kept interest rates unchanged Tuesday and said it would taper its purchase of government bonds at a slower pace, as trade uncertainty threatens to weigh on the world’s number four economy.The central bank has spent many years buying up Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs) to keep yields low as part of an ultra-loose monetary policy aimed at banishing stagnation and harmful deflation.But it began moving away from that easing programme last year, as inflation began to pick up and the yen weakened.After hiking interest rates for the first time since 2007, the bank began winding down its JGB purchases.It has since lifted borrowing costs several times to 0.5 percent, their highest in 17 years, and continued to buy fewer bonds.However, analysts say uncertainty sparked by US President Donald Trump’s trade war has led bank officials to hold off on more hikes — and on Tuesday they held rates again, while saying they would slow the pace of JGB reductions.”This measure was taken in order to avoid the possibility of an abnormal volatility in government bond yields, which would have a negative impact on the economy,” bank governor Kazuo Ueda told reporters.”We believe that it is appropriate for the Bank of Japan to reduce its JGB purchases in a predictable manner, while ensuring flexibility,” he added.Bond purchases will be cut in principle “by about 200 billion yen each calendar quarter from April-June 2026″ — from around 400 billion yen ($2.8 billion) per quarter, the bank’s policy statement said.- Next rate hike? -The BoJ’s main rate is still much lower than the US Federal Reserve’s 4.25-4.5 percent.”Japan’s economic growth is likely to moderate, as trade and other policies in each jurisdiction lead to a slowdown in overseas economies and to a decline in domestic corporate profits,” the bank said.However, “factors such as accommodative financial conditions are expected to provide support”.”We still believe the Bank may hike rates in the second half of the year as it remains committed to normalising monetary policy,” Katsutoshi Inadome of SuMi TRUST said ahead of the policy decision.Carol Kong, an analyst at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, told AFP the BoJ “will likely hold off on rate hikes until there is further clarity on US trade policy”.”While wage growth and consumer price inflation are solid, there are questions over whether domestic demand can withstand additional tightening,” she added.Japan, a key US ally and its biggest investor, is subject to the same 10 percent baseline tariffs imposed on most nations plus steeper levies on cars, steel and aluminium.Trump also announced an additional 24 percent “reciprocal” tariff on the country’s goods in April but later paused it along with similar measures on other trading partners.Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Monday there had been no breakthrough on a trade deal after talks with Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada.Ueda said policymakers would closely watch the economic impact of the conflict between Israel and Iran, which has buoyed oil prices.At the same time, “the impact of various trade policies will start to become more pronounced from now on,” he said. “It may weigh on corporate earnings, especially manufacturers.”Such a trend, if continues, could impact wages and prices in Japan, he said. “We wish to monitor both factors carefully.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping met Central Asian leaders at a summit in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, his second trip to the region in under a year as Beijing competes with Russia for influence there.The summit in Astana brings together Xi — who arrived in the Kazakh capital on Monday — and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.Under Russia’s orbit until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the five countries of Central Asia have courted interest from major powers including China and the United States since becoming independent.The region is rich in natural resources and strategically located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.In a meeting with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov on Tuesday, Xi called for the two countries to “scale up trade and investment and expand cooperation in emerging sectors”, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.The two sides should “advance high-quality construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and foster new drivers of growth in clean energy, green minerals and artificial intelligence”, Xi reportedly said.In talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Xi said Beijing “firmly supports Tajikistan in safeguarding its national independence, sovereignty and security”, according to Xinhua.The Chinese leader also held talks with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhamedov, according to Beijing’s state media.While Central Asian leaders continue to view Russia as a strategic partner, ties with Moscow have loosened since the war in Ukraine.The five nations are taking advantage of the growing interest in their region and coordinating their foreign policies.They regularly hold summits with China and Russia to present the region as a unified bloc and attract investment.High-level “5+1″ format talks have also been organised with the European Union, the United States, Turkey and other Western countries.”The countries of the region are balancing between different centres of power, wanting to protect themselves from excessive dependence on one partner,” Kyrgyz political scientist Nargiza Muratalieva told AFP.- Biggest trade partner -Russia says China’s growing influence in the region does not pose a threat.”There is no reason for such fears. China is our privileged strategic partner, and the countries of Central Asia, naturally, are our natural historical partners,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.But China has now established itself as Central Asia’s leading trading partner, far outstripping the EU and Russia.Central Asia is also an important target for China in its Belt and Road initiative — which uses huge infrastructure investments as a political and diplomatic lever.Construction of the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China railway and the China-Tajikistan highway, which runs through the Pamir Mountains to Afghanistan, are among the planned investments.New border crossings and “dry ports” have already been built to process trade, such as Khorgos in Kazakhstan, one of the largest logistics hubs in the world.”Neither Russia nor Western institutions are capable of allocating financial resources for infrastructure so quickly and on such a large scale, sometimes bypassing transparent procedures,” said Muratalieva.Kazakhstan said last week that Russia would lead the construction of its first nuclear power plant but that it wanted China to build the second.”Central Asia is rich in natural resources such as oil, gas, uranium, gold and other minerals that the rapidly developing Chinese economy needs,” Muratalieva said.”Ensuring uninterrupted supplies of these resources, bypassing unstable sea routes, is an important goal of Beijing,” the analyst added.- Human rights -China also positions itself as a supporter of the predominantly authoritarian Central Asian leaderships.At the last Central Asia-China summit, Xi called for “resisting external interference” that might provoke “colour revolutions” that could overthrow the current leaders in the region.”Beijing sees the stability of the Central Asian states as a guarantee of the security of its western borders,” Muratalieva said.Central Asia border’s China’s northwestern Xinjiang region, where Beijing is accused of having detained more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslims, part of a campaign the UN has said could constitute “crimes against humanity”.burs-mjw/je/jhb