HONG KONG – Oil prices fell on July 9, clawing back some of the previous day’s surge, as investors assessed the outlook for Middle East peace talks after the US and Iran exchanged fresh strikes and US President Donald Trump said their ceasefire was over.Crude soared on July 8 when Trump – in response to tit-for-tat attacks in the region already taking place – said the fragile truce between the foes was over.Washington also revoked a temporary sanctions waiver for Iranian oil.Both main contracts soared around 8 per cent on July 8, with Brent topping US$80 a barrel for the first time in two weeks, fanning fresh fears of a spike in inflation and a hit to the economy.Trump ordered new strikes on July 8 and warned of “much worse” if Tehran continues to attack vessels in the strait, through which a fifth of world oil usually passes.“This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran,” he said in a post on Truth Social.However, the US president said earlier that he expected the latest military flare-up to end quickly and left the door open to more talks.He also claimed Tehran had “called a little while ago” and that the Iranians wanted “to make a deal so badly”.“Trump’s remarks set sparks flying – the comments underscored fears that we could see further escalation and a return to pre-MOU conditions,” said Neil Wilson at Saxo Markets, referring to the memorandum of understanding that paved the way for peace talks.However, he added: “For what it’s worth, I don’t think this is the base case as A) Trump is wont to throw around threats, and B) both sides need to return to a kind of hazy pre-war ‘normality’.“But it clearly seems the risk of a total breakdown in negotiations has increased and markets are reflecting this fresh dynamic.”While the US and Iran continued to target each other’s positions in the region, traders took stock of the flare-up and began selling crude, pushing both main contracts down more than 1 per cent in late Asian trade. They had been up more than 1 per cent in the morning.Stock markets were mixed, though sentiment remained subdued as the latest geopolitical tensions comes after an extended period of selling in the tech sector fuelled by worries over extended valuations and when artificial intelligence investments will see returns.Seoul – the poster child of Asia’s AI-led tech boom in 2026 – briefly added nearly 2 per cent before paring back, but it remains susceptible to another sell-off. The Kospi has tanked more than 20 per cent from its record high touched on June 19.Tokyo added more than 1 per cent, while Shanghai, Singapore, Wellington, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta also advanced, with Paris and Frankfurt.There were losses in Hong Kong, Sydney, Taipei, Manila and London.Attention will later on July 9 be on South Korean chip titan SK Hynix, whose US listing was more than seven times oversubscribed ahead of its planned debut on July 10.The firm is expected to announce the pricing for its American depositary receipts and observers suggest it could raise as much as US$28 billion (S$36 billion) from the sale.The firm’s Seoul-listed shares were up almost 7 per cent on July 9, though since hitting its record high in June it has lost more than 30 per cent as it was at the forefront of the latest tech rout. AFP