Global shares trade mixed as Brent oil keeps rising due to fighting in Iran

TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were trading mixed Wednesday following a rally on Wall Street, despite concerns about higher oil prices and inflation.

France's CAC 40 edged up 0.6% in early trading to 8,410.68, while the German DAX rose 0.4% to 25,106.51. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.8% to 10,666.51. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down 0.2% at 52,366.00. S&P 500 futures lost 0.4% to 7,518.75.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.2% to finish at 66,115.60, after the government reported that both imports and exports rose last month from a year earlier, as the weakening yen raised the value of both when converted from dollars to yen.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3% to 8,823.00. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.7% to 6,797.70. The Hang Seng dipped nearly 1.0% to 24,892.66, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed, adding less than 0.1% to 3,867.03.

More climbs for oil prices have come after the continued attacks between the United States and Iran. Benchmark U.S. crude added $2.90 to $87.24 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose $2.91 to $93.92 a barrel.

“Oil makes the situation more difficult because Japan imports most of its energy. A weaker yen and higher crude prices arrive together like two waves hitting the same sea wall,” said analyst Stephen Innes, a former trader.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar inched down to 163.11 Japanese yen from 163.14 yen. The euro cost $1.1409, up from $1.1404.

Rising oil prices are again pushing inflation higher, just as increases for prices were slowing more than economists expected. That in turn could push the Federal Reserve and other central banks to raise interest rates, which would slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and other investments.

AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics Co. stock price at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders walk by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders walk by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics Co. stock price at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon's prime minister Wednesday visited a battered southern village as a Lebanese-Israeli agreement brokered by Washington appears to have started following a monthslong war.

Nawaf Salam's appearance in Zawtar Al Gharbieh comes a day after President Joseph Aoun's landmark White House meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, who promised to back the Lebanese government in its bid to claim state control across the country.

Lebanon and Israel in late June signed the agreement, which calls for the Lebanese military to deploy in areas in southern Lebanon where Hezbollah had a military presence and influence, and from where Israeli troops that have occupied dozens of villages would withdraw.

Both sides later agreed on a pilot zone made up of a series of villages to test the implementation of the agreement. While Israeli troops have struck and conducted ground operations in those towns and villages, none of them are under their occupation, but the Lebanese army has also not been there in large numbers.

The latest war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group started March 2, after the group fired rockets towards Israel in solidarity with war-torn Iran, its main backer. In response, Israel launched an aerial campaign and ground invasion in Lebanon, killing more than 4,000 people and displacing 1.2 million others.

Lebanon's top political leadership criticized Hezbollah for dragging the country into another war, but also condemned Israel for its widespread bombing and ground invasion.

Salam, alongside Lebanon’s defense minister and senior military officials, pitched a Lebanese flag near a destroyed building in the town, vowing the government will start rebuilding destroyed homes and infrastructure.

“We have insisted since the beginning that our goal is the complete Israeli withdrawal from all our territory,” Salam said. “What we are seeing today is just the beginning, but we remain determined and steadfast, and will continue to mobilize all political and diplomatic efforts to secure a full withdrawal from all of Lebanese territory.”

Hezbollah has condemned the government for holding direct talks with Israel and rejected the agreement, but the militant group has not tried to sabotage it through military means. Its leadership believes Israel cannot be pressured to withdraw its troops by diplomatic means only, and that Lebanon lacks the leverage of its key ally Iran in negotiations.

Trump, in his meeting with Aoun, did not speak much about the pilot zone going into its implementation phase, but pledged to support Lebanon without going into details.

Aoun and the Lebanese government have urged the international community to invest in the tiny country and its army to help rebuild its infrastructure and military capacity.

President Donald Trump greets Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun on his arrival at the White House, Tuesday, July 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

In this photo released by the Lebanese Government press office, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, center, raises a Lebanese flag during a visit to the southern village of Zawtar Al Gharbieh, Lebanon, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Lebanese Government press office via AP)