Asia-Pacific markets rise amid worries over Strait of Hormuz staying largely closed
The West Texas Intermediate was up 0.62% at $98.48 per barrel as of 7:50 p.m. ET. Brent crude ended the session at $95.92 per barrel.
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Firefighters inspect destruction at a site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 3, 2026. The war launched by the U.S. and Israel against Iran has spread across the Middle East, threatening to plunge the global economy into chaos, with Lebanon and Gulf energy exporters dragged into the conflict.
- | Afp | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher Friday, though a fragile two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran keeps investors on tenterhooks with oil prices remaining volatile.
The conflict in the Middle East, now in its second month, led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and traffic continues to be largely restricted via the crucial energy waterway despite the ceasefire.
Tehran had said it would reopen the strait as long as all attacks on the country were halted, according to a statement from its foreign minister. Media reports said that Israel had also agreed to the ceasefire. That followed U.S. President Donald Trump pausing attacks on Iran on Tuesday.
Trump said Thursday that Iran "better stop now" if it was charging fees to oil tankers for allowing them passage through the strait, while Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, charged the U.S. on Wednesday of violating the ceasefire agreement.
The West Texas Intermediate gained 0.39% at $98.25 per barrel as of 12:48 a.m.ET. Brent crude rose by 0.50% to $96.40 per barrel.
"Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz," Trump said in a Truth Social post.
South Korea's Kospi advanced 1.75%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was 1.65% higher.
Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.88%, while the Topix was flat. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Friday that the country plans to release 20 days' worth of oil reserves from May onwards, Reuters reported. Japan had enough oil reserves for 230 days as of April 6.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.36%. India's Nifty 50 gained 1.02%.
China's CSI 300 extended early gains, rising 1.18%. China's factory-gate prices rose for the first time in more than three years, while the consumer price index climbed 1% in March from a year earlier. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.6%.
Overnight on Wall Street, oil prices came off their highs of the day while the S&P 500 traded into the green.
The S&P 500 ended the session at 6,824.66, adding 0.62%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.83% to 22,822.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 275.88 points, or 0.58%, and settled at 48,185.80. The 30-stock index turned positive for the year, up 0.25%.
— Anniek Bao, Sean Conlon and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to the report
