MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1.2%

Stocks jumped at ​the start of trading in Asia on Wednesday as investors shrugged off climbing oil prices.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1.2% as Kospi climbed more than 6%. Nikkei 225 added 1.9%, while S&P ​500 e-mini futures edged 0.1% lower.

Brent crude nudged 0.6% higher to $91.55 a barrel after two oil tankers carrying ​Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Red Sea on Tuesday amid regional tensions.

Equity markets shrugged off geopolitical risks, focusing instead on tech sector returns, Westpac analysts wrote in a ​research report. After large losses in recent days, semiconductor stocks bounced back.

Elsewhere, the U.S. S&P 500 was up 0.9%, snapping a three-day ​losing streak, driven by a rebound in semiconductor shares after data showed Korean semiconductor exports almost tripled during the first few weeks of July and a gauge of Taiwanese export orders for June topped estimates.

The U.S. dollar index held near a one-week high of 101.20. Against the yen, the dollar was ​down 0.1% at 163.06 yen, weakening ​slightly after setting a ⁠four-decade high against the Japanese currency on Tuesday.

The jump in oil prices, which settled at a five-week high on Tuesday, did little to unsettle bond and currency markets ahead of U.S. central ​bank meetings next week. The bank is set to keep ​its key interest ⁠rate steady for the rest of 2026, according to the median forecast of economists in a Reuters poll, though they said the chance of a rate hike is high.