Firefighters inspect the destruction at the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern outskirts of Beirut on March 3, 2026. The war against Iran started by the United States and Israel is spreading across the Middle East, drawing energy exporters from Lebanon and the Gulf into the conflict and threatening to throw the global economy into turmoil.
– | AFP | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher on Friday, but a fragile two-week cease-fire between the United States and Iran kept oil prices volatile and investors on edge.
The Middle East conflict, now in its second month, has led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and, despite a ceasefire, traffic through the vital energy waterway remains severely restricted.
The Iranian government had said it would reopen the strait as long as all attacks against the country ceased, according to a statement from its foreign minister. According to media reports, Israel has also agreed to a ceasefire. This was followed by US President Donald Trump suspending attacks on Iran on Tuesday.
President Trump said on Thursday that if Iran were to charge fees to allow tankers to pass through the strait, it “better stop now,” and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Berger Ghalibaf on Wednesday accused the United States of violating the ceasefire agreement.
West Texas Intermediate rose 1.72% to $99.55 a barrel as of 3:40 a.m. ET. Brent crude oil rose 1.80% to $97.65 per barrel.
“Iran has done a disgraceful, some may say, disgraceful job of allowing oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.84% to 56,924.11 yen, while the TOPIX closed flat. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Friday that Japan plans to release 20 days worth of oil reserves starting in May, according to Reuters. As of April 6, Japan had 230 days worth of oil reserves.
China’s CSI 300 ended Friday’s trading 1.54% higher at 4,636.57. Factory prices in China rose for the first time in three years, with the consumer price index rising 1% in March compared to the same month last year. The Hang Seng Index was up 0.47% in the last hour of trading.
South Korea’s Kospi ended Friday’s trading 1.40% higher at 5,858.87, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 1.64% to 1,093.63.
India’s Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex were up nearly 1% as of 3:40 a.m. ET.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended the day marginally lower at 0.14%.
Overnight on Wall Street, oil prices fell from the day’s highs and the S&P 500 rose.
The S&P 500 Index rose 0.62% to close at 6,824.66, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.83% to 22,822.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 275.88 points, or 0.58%, to settle at 48,185.80. The 30-stock index turned positive since the beginning of the year, rising 0.25%.
— Anniek Bao, Sean Conlon and Lisa Kailai Han contributed reporting
