Asian shares gain with most markets closed for May Day, while oil holds steady at $111 a barrel

Shares gained in Asia on Friday, though most markets in the region were closed for May Day holidays.

Brent crude’s price rose 67 cents to $111.07 per barrel while U.S. benchmark crude oil added 10 cents to $105.17 a barrel.

Prospects for a deal to cement a three-week ceasefire in the Iran wa r remained clouded as Iran’s supreme leader said it will protect its nuclear and missile capabilities as a national asset.

The war’s shocks to oil supplies and prices are putting pressure on U.S. President Donald Trump, who was floating a new plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical passageway for oil and gas exports from the Middle East.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.7% to 59,678.31 as the Japanese yen gained against the U.S. dollar.

The dollar bought 157.16 yen, up from 156.61 yen late Thursday. But that was well below the 160 yen level hit on Thursday. Japanese officials had warned they would intervene in the market if the yen fell further, and then reported acted on those warnings.

The euro slipped to $1.1724 from $1.1731.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 surged 0.9% to 8,743.70.

U.S. futures were up 0.2% after U.S stocks motored to more records Thursday on strong profits for Alphabet, Caterpillar and other big businesses. The gains came after the latest whipsaw moves for oil prices, which surged toward their highest levels since the war with Iran began only to quickly regress.

The S&P 500 rallied 1% and topped its prior all-time high to close out its best month in more than five years. It closed at 7,209.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 1.6% to 49,652.14, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.9% to a record of 24,892.31.

Alphabet led the way and rallied 10% after the owner of Google and YouTube reported profit for the latest quarter that almost doubled analysts’ expectations. Investments in artificial intelligence “are lighting up every part of the business,” CEO Sundar Pichai said.

It’s the latest company to deliver fatter profits for the start of 2026 than analysts expected, even with very high oil prices and uncertainty about the economy.

Friday brought some calm to the oil market, where prices surged Thursday on worries over the potential long-term impact of the war on the flow of crude.

Traders are buying and selling contracts for different kinds of oil, going out for many months. In the most actively traded part of the market for Brent crude, for delivery in July, the price rose as high as $114.70 per barrel, fell back toward $107 and settled at $110.40 on Thursday, nearly unchanged from the day before.

So far during the war, the peak price for the most actively traded Brent contract has been $119.50, which was set last month.

In a less actively traded corner of the Brent market, the price for a barrel to be delivered in June briefly went above $126 overnight before pulling back toward $114.

Brent’s price was roughly $70 before the war.

In share trading, Meta Platforms tumbled 8.7% even though the company behind Facebook and Instagram made more profit last quarter than expected. Investors focused more on its increased forecast for how much it will spend on data centers and other investments as it builds out its AI capabilities.

Doubts are still high among some investors about whether all the spending on AI will produce enough profit and productivity to make it worth it.

Microsoft fell 3.9% after likewise raising its forecast for investments and other capital spending.

Amazon rose 0.8% after swinging between gains and losses through the day.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased after oil prices fell back. Reports also suggested the U.S. economy grew at a slower pace in January to March than economists had expected, while a measure of inflation worsened in March.

A separate report said that fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in an indication of fewer layoffs even though companies are announcing large cuts to workforces.

London’s FTSE 100 jumped 1.6% after the Bank of England kept its main interest rate on hold. That followed similar decisions by the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday and the Bank of Japan on Tuesday to keep their rates unchanged.

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