Oil steadies after 5% surge as Asian markets post mixed results

Brent crude oil, which surged 5% on Monday, remained steady at $87.72 a barrel on Tuesday as markets watch for developments on the Strait of Hormuz that could restore global crude flows. The U.S. benchmark stayed flat at $82.13 a barrel. Asian markets posted mixed results: South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1.5% on strong performance by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.6% and Shanghai’s Composite dipped 0.1%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5% after the Reserve Bank of Australia left its policy rate unchanged at 4.35%. Corporate news featured MarineMax’s agreement to be bought for about $1.5 billion by a Blackstone portfolio company, Varex Imaging’s pending $18.90-per-share cash acquisition by Teledyne Technologies, and Intel’s announcement it may sell $15 billion of its own shares. The upcoming July inflation report is set to shape expectations for Federal Reserve rate moves.