Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average hit a record high on Wednesday amid mixed Asian markets as traders assessed the prospects for conflict in the Middle East after President Donald Trump extended the ceasefire between the United States and Iran.
“Not unexpectedly, given the fact that the Iranian government is deeply divided, and at the request of Pakistan’s General Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, we have been asked to halt attacks against Iran until our leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
He added that the ceasefire will be extended until Iran submits a proposal or talks end, and that the US military will continue to blockade Iranian ports.
However, the schedule remains uncertain. Tehran’s negotiators said they would not attend talks with the United States, calling them a “waste of time,” Iranian state media reported on Wednesday.
The uncertainty also delayed Vice President J.D. Vance’s trip to participate in peace talks, Axios and the New York Times reported, citing U.S. officials familiar with the situation.
west texas intermediate As of 3:31 a.m. ET, futures were down 0.67% at $89.07 a barrel. brent crude oil The price fell 0.48% to $98.01 per barrel.
Following the release of the latest trade data, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average hit a new all-time high, closing 0.4% higher at 59,585.86. The country’s exports rose for the seventh consecutive month, with a trade surplus of 667 billion yen ($4.18 billion) in March, compared to an expected 1.1 trillion yen, according to Reuters data. Next week’s Bank of Japan policy meeting will also be a focus. On the other hand, TOPIX fell by 0.67%.
SoftBank Group shares rose as much as 10%. Rene Haas, CEO of SoftBank’s Arm Holdings, will take on the expanded role of CEO of SoftBank Group International starting April 21, the company announced in a statement.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.46% to 6,417.93. The small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.18%. Shares of tech giant SK Hynix fell nearly 1% following reports that the company will invest 19 trillion won ($12.9 billion) to build an advanced chip packaging factory in the country as demand for memory chips soars due to the artificial intelligence boom.
The country’s producer prices rose at the fastest pace in more than three years in March, central bank data showed, helped by rising oil prices due to Middle East conflict.
Mainland China’s CSI300 index rose 0.66% to 4,799.62, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.19% in the last hour of trading on Wednesday.
indian nifty 50 It fell by 0.59%. Shares of IT company HCL Technologies fell 8.87% after the fourth quarter results fell short of expectations.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 1.18% to 8,843.6.
