Brent, Nikkei 225, Kospi, Hang Seng Index
Stock prices are displayed on a screen at the Kabuto One building in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, April 13, 2026. Oil rose and stocks fell after President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, escalating tensions with Iran after peace talks collapsed over the weekend. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets opened higher on Friday as investors assessed U.S.-Iran diplomatic efforts to reach a peace deal in the Middle East.
While oil prices in US trade have fallen on hopes of a deal, talks with Washington are complicated by reports that Tehran plans to keep its stockpile of enriched uranium at home as President Donald Trump has made dismantling Iran’s nuclear program a key goal of his military action against Tehran.
of japan Nikkei 225 It rose 1.36% while Topix rose 0.55%. Japan’s core inflation fell more than expected in April, falling to its lowest level since March 2022, weakening the possibility of an early interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan.
Core inflation, which excludes fresh food prices, was 1.4%, below the 1.7% expected by economists polled by Reuters and below the 1.8% in March.
While South Korea’s Kospi index increased by 0.52%, the Kosdaq Index increased by over 3%. of Australia S&P/ASX 200 It increased by 0.5%.
of hong kong Hang Seng index Futures were last traded at 25,568, above the index’s last close of 25,386.52.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to a record close. The blue-chip index rose 276.31 points, or 0.55%, to a closing record of 50,285.66. The S&P 500 index increased by 0.17% to 7,445.72 points, and the Nasdaq Composite index increased by 0.09% to 26,293.10 points.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Alex Harring contributed to this report
