Asian stocks were lower Friday as investors watched for signs of more U.S.-Iran talks and an extension of the ceasefire of the Iran war that is expiring next week. The market wobble came as traders lightened positions ahead of the weekend, waiting for word from the top of the geopolitical machine while ordinary people and workers absorb the fallout through prices, supply chains, and financial instability.
Who Holds the Levers
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that he’s open to extending the two-week ceasefire in the Iran war, and Iran’s U.N. envoy said Tehran remained “cautiously optimistic” over negotiations with the U.S. That is the language of states managing war and pause alike, with the public left to read the tea leaves while decisions are made elsewhere. Markets, always eager to translate diplomacy into profit and loss, moved on the possibility that the truce would last longer.
As optimism over an extended ceasefire grew, oil prices fell early Friday after climbing a day earlier. Brent crude, the international standard, was 1.1% lower at $98.31 per barrel. It had surged roughly 40% since the beginning of the Iran war in late February. Benchmark U.S. crude was down 1.4% to $89.90 a barrel. The energy shock is not abstract: global energy shocks are growing over impacts of the Iran war, with the Strait of Hormuz remaining largely closed while the U.S. imposed a sea blockade on Iranian ports.
Who Pays for the Power Games
The hierarchy cost lands far from the negotiating table. The head of the International Energy Agency told The Associated Press on Thursday that Europe has “maybe six weeks or so” of jet fuel supplies remaining and warned of flight cancellations “soon.” That warning sits beneath the diplomatic theater: the people who fly, work, ship, and commute are the ones exposed when states escalate, blockade, and bargain.
Asian equities reflected that uncertainty. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 1% to 58,930.87 after reaching an all-time high on Thursday. South Korea’s Kospi was 0.6% lower at 6,191.19. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1% to 26,126.86, while the Shanghai Composite index edged down 0.1% to 4,051.45. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.3%, while Taiwan’s Taiex traded 0.5% lower. The retreat followed a rally driven by expectations that the ceasefire would be prolonged, a reminder that markets can surge and sink on the decisions of rulers and the rumors surrounding them.
What the Markets Call Stability
On Thursday, Wall Street set another record with the benchmark S&P 500 closing 0.3% higher at 7,041.28, just a day after it eclipsed its previous all-time high in January. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to 48,578.72, and the tech-focused Nasdaq composite added 0.4% to 24,102.70. Shares of PepsiCo gained 2.3% following its announcement of better-than-expected quarterly results. U.S. logistics company J.B. Hunt Transport Services was 6.3% higher also on stronger-than-expected results.
In other dealings, gold and silver prices were up. Gold’s price was 0.1% higher at $4,814.60 an ounce, while silver prices gained 0.4% to $79.04 per ounce. The U.S. dollar rose to 159.43 Japanese yen from 159.17 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1778, down from $1.1781. AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.