Kazuhiro Nogi | AFP | Getty Images
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. Presidentย 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, Trumpย confirmed that Israel and Lebanon hadย 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 aย key conditionย 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 crudeย 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 Uedaย on Friday, who said the central bank must take Japan’s low real rates into account when setting policy.
Japan’sย Nikkei 225ย 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’sย Hang Seng index declined 1.19%. Shares of Hangzhou-based developerย 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.
