Kazuhiro Nogi | AFP | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets opened lower on Friday as cautious optimism about the Middle East conflict dampened sentiment and diverged from Wall Street’s record-breaking rally.
US President Donald Trump said Friday that the war in Iran “should end pretty soon” and repeated rosy predictions about the end of the conflict.
Hours earlier, Trump confirmed that Israel and Lebanon had done so agreed to a 10-day ceasefirefrom 5 p.m. ET. The speaker of Iran’s parliament said Israel’s cessation of attacks on Lebanon was a challenge Key condition so that negotiations between the USA and Iran can begin.
The next round of face-to-face talks between the US and Iran could take place.probably, maybe, next weekend“,” Trump said on Thursday. A two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran expires on April 21.
West Texas Middle School fell 1.29% to $93.47 a barrel at 11:45 p.m. ET Brent crude oil fell 1.14% to $98.26 a 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 volatility in the oil market was impacting foreign exchange markets.
Investors are also digesting comments from Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda on Friday, who said the central bank must take Japan’s low real interest rates into account when setting its monetary policy.
Japan Nikkei 225 experienced some profit taking after hitting a Record high on Thursday, slipping 0.91%, while the Topix fell 0.98%.
South Korea’s Kospi traded choppy, losing 0.87%, while the small-cap Kosdaq gained 0.26%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.27%.
The CSI300 index in mainland China traded 0.30% lower, while the Hong Kong index traded 0.30% lower Hang Seng Index extended early losses, falling 1.37%. Shares in Hangzhou-based developer Manycore Tech tripled in their Hong Kong stock market debut, opening at HK$20.7 against the offer price of HK$7.62 in a US$156 million listing.
India’s Nifty 50 was marginally higher.
