Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher on Friday after Iran and Oman were reportedly drafting a “transit monitoring” protocol through the Strait of Hormuz, raising hopes that the vital waterway could be partially reopened.
According to Iran’s state news agency IRNA, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Law and International Affairs Kazem Ghalibabadi said tanker traffic along the vital oil route “should be supervised and coordinated” with both countries.
Oil prices soared Thursday before markets closed for the Good Friday holiday. US crude oil futures It rose almost 12% to trade at $112.06 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent rose about 8% to $109.24.
The spot price for a physical cargo of Brent crude soared to $141.36 on Thursday, the highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, according to S&P Global.
Korean Kospi led the region’s gains, rising 2.74% to close at 5,377.3, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.74% to 1,063.75.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung will hold a summit meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday.
The Blue House said in a statement that the bilateral relationship is expected to be upgraded to a “global strategic partnership” for the first time in 22 years.
The Korea Times reported that the two countries plan to discuss trade and investment, as well as expanding cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence, nuclear power and space.
Japanese Nikkei Stock Average The index rose 1.26% to close at 53,123.49, led by consumer non-economic stocks, while the overall Topix rose 0.93% to close at 3,645.19, led by energy stocks.
On Friday, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama was reported to have said that the impact of US President Donald Trump’s national address on Wednesday was “extremely significant”, adding that there had been speculative activity in both the crude oil futures market and the currency market.
Japanese government bond yields also broke records, with the two-year government bond yield reaching 1.39%, the highest level since 1995. The benchmark 10-year government bond yield was 2.399%, the highest level since 1999.
Mainland China’s CSI300 index reversed its earlier gains and fell 0.85% to 4,440.79.
Australian and Hong Kong markets were closed for the Easter weekend.
Markets in the US traded volatile overnight due to rising oil prices, but the major indexes were little changed heading into the weekend, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average ending down 61.07 points (0.13%).
The S&P 500 rose 0.11% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.18%.
—CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger, Lisa Kailai Han and Sean Conlon contributed to this report.
