TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares traded mixed early Tuesday as optimism encouraged by a record rally on Wall Street clashed with anxiety about surging oil prices and a possible AI bubble.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.7% to 62,881.03. South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.2% to 7,726.30, in what analysts are categorizing as fallout from overreliance on fraying AI hopes.
“Global equities remain dangerously dependent on a tiny cluster of AI leaders, creating a rally structure that looks powerful on the surface but increasingly fragile underneath,” said Stephen Innes, analyst with SPI Asset Management.
He believes South Korea may be among the first major economies that will undergo what he called "the political redistribution phase of the AI boom.”
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.3% to 8,676.60. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.2% to 26,467.50, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.4% to 4,208.00.
Oil prices continued to rise, as the war with Iran threatens to drag on. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 91 cents to $98.98 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 90 cents to $105.11 a barrel.
Adding to worries were comments from President Donald Trump that the U.S.-Iran ceasefire was on “life support” after rejecting Iran’s latest proposal to end their war. That raises the stakes for Trump’s trip this week to China. China is the biggest buyer of Iran’s sanctioned crude oil.
The war has already sent the price for a barrel of Brent racing up from prewar levels of roughly $70 and delivered inflation through the global economy. The war has shut the Strait of Hormuz and kept oil tankers stuck in the Persian Gulf instead of delivering crude to customers worldwide.
Still, some companies are reporting bigger profit than analysts expected, which means the U.S. economy is holding up even though households are feeling discouraged by expensive gasoline and tariffs.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% from its prior all-time high set on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 95 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.1% to reach its own all-time high.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 13.91 points to 7,412.84. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 95.31 to 49,704.47, and the Nasdaq composite gained 27.05 to 26,274.13.
In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher. The 10-year yield rose to 4.40% from 4.38% late Friday.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 157.57 Japanese yen from 157.12 yen. The euro cost $1.1761, down from $1.1787.
AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.
Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders react near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Colorado Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson returned from a five-game absence with a costly mistake.
The 12th-year veteran was playing for the first time in the second-round NHL playoff series against Minnesota after recovering from an upper-body injury. He took a double minor penalty for hitting Wild center Michael McCarron with the blunt end of his stick during a scrum midway through the first period.
Danila Yurov scored during the four-minute power play to put the Wild on the board first in Game 4 on Monday, with Manson watching from the box. The Avalanche recovered to win 5-2 for a 3-1 lead in the series.
“A little undisciplined there, but it didn’t look to me like it was vicious enough to make it a five-minute major,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I was just kind of hoping for the best and Manse would be able to stay in the game. I think they probably made the right call.”
The first-period tussle with Manson was still on McCarron's mind afterward.
“He’s a dirty player. He’s always been,” McCarron said. “Not very well-respected.”
Manson was checked hard into the boards by McCarron, losing his balance and pulling McCarron down to the ice with him. As Manson tried to get loose from McCarron’s bear hug, he sent a slight jab of his stick at the side of McCarron’s face that caused him to recoil in apparent pain.
Manson threw his hands up in disbelief after the review for a major penalty was announced, and after a longer-than-usual evaluation the call came for the double minor that went in the books for “butt-ending.”
“I blew him up, and he grabbed me and pulls me on top of him,” McCarron said. “He took his butt end and clearly butt-ended me in the face. I don’t know how it’s not a five-minute. I think the rulebook says it’s a five-minute if you butt-end someone in the face.”
Manson was mostly upset that McCarron landed on him after the hit, but he said he didn't purposely try to injure him and lost awareness of where his grip on the stick was during the scrum.
“My intention wasn't to butt-end him. Did I want to punch him in the head? I did want to punch him in the head,” Manson said.
The Avalanche made their first significant lineup changes of the postseason before Game 4, putting Manson and rookie Jack Ahcan on the blue line for Nick Blankenburg and Sam Malinski, who was scratched for the first time this postseason because of an upper-body injury. Manson was hurt in Game 3 of Colorado's first-round sweep of Los Angeles.
Manson posted a career-best plus-42 rating during the regular season, and he had a career-high 91 penalty minutes.
Bednar also gave goalie Mackenzie Blackwood his first start in nearly a month after he relieved Scott Wedgewood during the 5-1 loss in Game 3 to the Wild.
First line left wing Artturi Lehkonen also had his first absence due to an upper-body injury, so captain Gabriel Landeskog moved up to skate with star center Nathan MacKinnon.
Wedgewood and Blackwood shared the William M. Jennings Trophy as the Avalanche had the NHL's best goals against average during the regular season. Wedgewood was 6-0 in the playoffs before giving up three goals in Game 3 to prompt the pull from Bednar early in the second period on Saturday.
Blackwood, who played the entire first-round series last year against the Dallas Stars, made 19 saves in Game 4 after stopping 12 of 13 shots in Game 3.
“He went in the net and did exactly what I was hoping he would do,” Bednar said. “He’s had some really strong practices in the last week. He’s had some time to prepare. He’s in tune with what’s going on in the series and done his homework.”
AP Sports Writer Pat Graham in Denver contributed to this report.
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Colorado Avalanche goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood waits for play to resume after a goal by Minnesota Wild right wing Danila Yurov during the first period of Game 4 in a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Monday, May 11, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Minnesota Wild right wing Ryan Hartman (38) tries to gain control of the puck as Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brett Kulak (27) and goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (39) defend during the third period of Game 3 of an NHL Stanley Cup hockey second-round playoff series Saturday, May 9, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Minnesota Wild right wing Ryan Hartman (38) tries to gain control of the puck as Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brett Kulak (27) and goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (39) defend during the third period of Game 3 of an NHL Stanley Cup hockey second-round playoff series Saturday, May 9, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
