World Shares Fall, Oil Climbs Thursday 03/26 05:25

   World shares traded lower and oil prices rose back to around $100 per barrel 
on Thursday as a de-escalation of the Iran war remained uncertain.

   HONG KONG (AP) -- World shares traded lower and oil prices rose back to 
around $100 per barrel on Thursday as a de-escalation of the Iran war remained 
uncertain.

   U.S. futures were down 0.7%.

   In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 lost 1.3% to 9,977.65. 
France's CAC 40 fell 1.1% to 7,762.41, and Germany's DAX dropped 1.6% to 
22,583.07.

   Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was trading 0.3% lower at 53,603.65. South Korea's Kospi 
lost 3.2% to 5,460.46.

   Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.9% to 24,856.43, while the Shanghai Composite 
index was down 1.1% to 3,889.08.

   Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged down 0.1%, while Taiwan's Taiex was trading 
0.3% lower.

   Oil prices were up again on Thursday. Brent crude, the international 
standard, rose 3.2% to $100.39 per barrel. It was below $95 on Wednesday. 
Benchmark U.S. crude was 3.5% higher at $93.44 a barrel.

   The rise in oil prices came as Tehran on Wednesday dismissed a ceasefire 
plan by the U.S., after the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump 
offered a 15-point proposal to Iran and Trump this week delayed a self-imposed 
deadline to "obliterate" its power plants in order to force Iran to reopen the 
Strait of Hormuz.

   Trump insisted late Wednesday that Iran is still negotiating following its 
rejection of the U.S.'s ceasefire proposal.

   Iran also launched more attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries as Israel 
launched airstrikes on Tehran and the U.S. prepared to deploy more American 
troops to the region.

   With the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway between Iran and Oman where 
roughly a fifth of the world's oil typically passes through, remaining largely 
closed after the Iran war began, oil prices have fluctuated, climbing around 
40% since the beginning of the war, which is now in its fourth week.

   On Wednesday, Wall Street stocks closed higher. The S&P 500 gained 0.5% to 
6,591.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.7% to 46,429.49, and the 
Nasdaq composite rose 0.8% to 21,929.83.

   U.S.-listed shares of Arm Holdings jumped 16.4%, following an announcement 
by the U.K. company that it would be launching and selling its own chips which 
is expected to drive future revenue.

   On Holding, the Swiss sportswear company selling On running shoes, fell 
11.2% in the U.S. Its CEO Martin Hoffmann is stepping down and the company has 
named two co-founders as co-CEOs.

   In other dealings early Thursday, gold and silver prices fell. Gold prices 
dropped 2.9% to $4,420.80 per ounce. Silver prices lost 6.6% to $67.85 an ounce.

   The U.S. dollar rose to 159.52 Japanese yen from 159.47 yen. The euro was at 
$1.1557, down from $1.1559.