Star Metro - Stocks rise on AI buzz, drop in oil prices

Facebook owner Meta surged 11 percent, Bloomberg reported, after its free AI agent Muse topped download charts following its release earlier this month.

Meta said Muse -- which can book travel, send emails and make purchases -- was built for users with no technical background and is designed to work the way people already message each other, either in a dedicated app or inside WhatsApp.

"Meta's Muse might well be the consumer facing manifestation of AI agents, in a way Claude Cowork and ChatGPT currently are the business facing applications for now," said economist Michael Wan at MUFG.

Asian markets were mostly in the green, with South Korea's tech-rich Kospi up 1.7 percent and Taiwan's Taiex -- home to chipmaking titan TSMC -- up 1.4 percent in early trading.

The gains followed Wall Street indices capping a buoyant day, with the Nasdaq finishing 2.3 percent up.

Traders are also looking to Washington ahead of a summit on Thursday between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, expected to focus on trade between the world's top economies.

The simmering US-China trade war is a key concern: while both sides have maintained a tariff truce for nearly a year, they have yet to secure a lasting agreement.

- AI apocalypse -

US and Chinese economic officials met Sunday in New York for closely watched talks on trade and artificial intelligence to lay the groundwork for the meeting.

China's top trade negotiator He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent discussed creating a communication channel for AI concerns, with warnings of an AI apocalypse hanging heavy as both countries race for technological supremacy.

Falling oil prices also rallied optimism on trading floors.

Crude prices dropped around four percent on Monday after Trump signalled he would be open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who will travel to New York for the UN General Assembly this week.

Stephen Innes, analyst at Quintex Intel also noted that the world's top crude exporter Saudi Arabia is "finding ways to put oil back onto the water".

A lightning offensive by pro-Iranian Houthis in recent weeks has seen the fighters seize control of strategic coastal areas overlooking the Bab al-Mandeb Strait from Saudi-backed government forces.

The gains cement the hold of Iran and its allies on the two waterways that the wider Gulf, including Riyadh, relies on to ship out its oil.

"Saudi Arabia is using its enormous logistical flexibility to work around a badly damaged export map" and has "pivoted aggressively back toward its Persian Gulf export system," Innes said.

But the benchmark international contract, Brent crude, remained above the symbolic $100 mark in early Asian trade.

"Oil remains one diplomatic misstep away from rebuilding its geopolitical premium," Innes said.

- Key figures at around 0200 GMT -

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $96.19 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.7 percent at $101.04 per barrel

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: FLAT at 25,053.45

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,959.315

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: closed for a holiday

Dollar/yen: UP at 157.55 yen from 157.40 yen on Monday

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1464 from $1.1466

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3365 from $1.3370

Euro/pound: UP at 85.78 pence from 85.75 pence

M.Johnson--SMC