Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell Friday, as cautious optimism over the Middle East conflict tempered sentiment, diverging from Wall Street’s record-setting rally.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said that the war in Iran “should be ending pretty soon,” reiterating rosy predictions about the end of the conflict.
Hours earlier, Trump confirmed that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day ceasefire, starting at 5 p.m. ET. Iran’s parliament speaker has said that Israel halting attacks on Lebanon is a key condition for U.S.-Iran negotiations to start.
The next round of in-person talks between the U.S. and Iran may occur “probably, maybe, next weekend,” Trump said Thursday. A two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran will expire on April 21.
West Texas Intermediate fell 1.15% to $93.60 per barrel as of 2:35 a.m. ET, while Brent crude declined 0.68% to $98.71 per barrel.
Japan’s export credit agency, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, will set up an investment window of up to 600 billion yen ($3.8 billion) to help Asian countries secure energy supplies, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said.
She added that oil market volatility is affecting foreign exchange markets.
Investors are also digesting comments by Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda on Friday, who said the central bank must take Japan’s low real rates into account when setting policy.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 saw some profit-taking after hitting a record high on Thursday, ending Friday’s trading session 1.75% lower at 58,475.90. The Topix declined 1.41% to 3,760.81
South Korea’s Kospi traded choppy and slipped 0.55% to 6,191.92. The small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.61% to 1,170.04. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was marginally lower.
Mainland China’s CSI300 index traded 0.25% lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined 1.19%. Shares of Hangzhou-based developer Manycore Tech tripled on its Hong Kong Exchange debut, opening at HK$20.7 versus its offer price of HK$7.62, in a $156 million listing.
India’s Nifty 50 was 0.36% higher.
The S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were trading around the flatline. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 71 points, or more than 0.1%.
During Thursday’s regular session, the S&P 500 gained 0.26% to close at 7,041.28, while the Nasdaq gained 0.36% to settle at 24,102.70.
The tech-heavy index posted its 12th consecutive positive session, notching its longest winning run since 2009. Both averages logged intraday and closing records.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 115 points, or 0.24%, and ended at 48,578.72.