Asia-Pacific markets opened lower on Friday as cautious optimism over the conflict in the Middle East dampened sentiment, detracting from Wall Street’s record gains.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the war in Iran “should be over soon”, repeating 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 5pm ET. Iran’s parliament speaker said that stopping Israel’s attacks on Lebanon is a key condition for the start of negotiations between the US and Iran.
The next round of in-person talks between the US and Iran could take place “probably, maybe, next weekend,” Trump said on Thursday. The two-week truce between the US and Iran expires on April 21, SEEbiz reports.
West Texas Intermediate was down 1.29% at $93.47 a barrel as of 11:45 p.m. ET, while Brent crude was down 1.14% at $98.26 a barrel.
Japan’s export credit agency, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, will establish 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 the volatility of the oil market affects the foreign exchange markets.
Investors are also analyzing comments from Bank of Japan Governor Kazu Ueda on Friday, who said the central bank must take into account Japan’s low real interest rates when setting policy.
Japan’s Nikkei 225
saw some profit-taking after hitting a record high on Thursday, falling 0.91%, while the Topix fell 0.98%.
South Korea’s Kospi was trading volatile, down 0.87%, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.26%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.27%.
Mainland China’s CSI300 index traded down 0.30%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index continued early losses and fell 1.37%. Shares in Hangzhou-based developer Manycore Tech tripled on their debut on the Hong Kong Exchange, opening at HK$20.7 against an offer price of HK$7.62, in a $156 million listing.
