Pedestrians pass in front of Exchange Square, the complex that houses the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, March 23, 2021.
Paul Yong | Bloomberg via Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets fell on Friday following volatile trading on Wall Street overnight as the prospects for a Middle East peace deal remained uncertain amid contradictory messages from the United States and Iran.
President Donald Trump extended Friday’s deadline for attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure by 10 days to April 6 to give more time to negotiations.
Trump said the extension was at the request of the Islamic Republic’s government, which granted it in exchange for 10 oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz as a “gift” from the Iranian government.
“As requested by the Iranian government, I ask that this statement serve as a statement that I am suspending the destruction of energy plants for a period of time,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump added that “the talks are ongoing and despite false statements to the contrary by the fake news media and others, they are going very well.”
The US government has signaled in recent days that it wants a negotiated end to the conflict, insisting that peace talks with the Islamic Republic continue. Tehran denied it was in direct talks with the US
Iran reportedly rejected the 15-point proposal compiled by the United States and offered its own conditions, including guarantees that the United States and Israel would not renew attacks on the country and recognition of Iranian authority over the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil prices fell as tensions eased in the nearly month-long conflict. West Texas Intermediate for May delivery fell 1.8% to $92.82 a barrel as of 8:30 p.m. ET, while international benchmark Brent crude oil futures fell 1.92% to $105.9 a barrel.
South Korea led the region’s decline, with the blue-chip Kospi falling 3.6% and the small-cap Kosdaq falling 2%.
australian S&P/ASX 200 The stock fell 0.42% in early Asian trading. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.6%, and the comprehensive stock index TOPIX fell 0.8%.
hong kong Hang Seng Index fell 0.2%, and mainland China’s CSI300 fell 0.4%.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday showed China’s industrial profits rose 15.2% year-on-year in January-February, a sharp rebound from December’s 5.3% rise.
