Asia report: Tech stocks, weaker oil boost sentiment

(Sharecast News) - Asian markets closed broadly higher on Monday driven by reports that oil flows from the Gulf were higher than expected, while tech stocks were also supported by investors. South Korea's KOSPI rose 1.7% to 7,007.72, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.96% to 24,989, China's Shanghai Composite 1% to 3,949.91 and Australia's ASX was flat at 8,731. Tokyo was closed for the Silver Week holiday.

Samsung Electronics jumped 5%, while memory chipmaker SK Hynix climbed 0.6% as US President Donald Trump ignored persistent concerns about the pace of artificial intelligence development.

Brent crude was down 2% to $101 a barrel while West Texas Intermediate declined by the same amount to $98.

Prices fell as Saudi Arabia increased exports through the Strait of Hormuz following disruptions to its East-West pipeline due to attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels last week.

Analysts at JP Morgan said total oil flows ​averaged 17.1m barrels per day (bpd) in the past 10 days, just 6.1m bpd below the 2025 average.

"The most notable pivot has come from Saudi Arabia," they added, as satellite data indicated Saudi oil moving through the strait of Hormuz averaged 2.9m bpd over the past six days, up from just 700,000 bpd in August.

A separate report cited data from analytics firm Kpler showing exports from Saudi had recovered to just over 4 million barrels bpd so far in September after slumping to 2.4 million bpd in August, the lowest since at least 2013.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com