Asia-Pacific markets mostly rise in Easter trade on hopes for Hormuz reopening
Asia-Pacific markets traded mostly higher Friday, after Iran and Oman were reportedly drafting a protocol to “monitor transit” through the Strait of Hormuz, raising hopes that the crucial waterway could partially reopen.
Tanker traffic through the key oil-shipping route “should be supervised and coordinated” with the two countries, said Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister of legal and international affairs, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA.
Oil prices surged Thursday before markets closed for the Good Friday holiday. U.S. crude futures jumped almost 12% to trade at $112.06 per barrel, while global benchmark Brent was up around 8% at $109.24.
The spot price for current physical cargoes of Brent crude oil soared Thursday to $141.36, the highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, according to S&P Global.
South Korea’s Kospi led gains in the region, rising 1.75%, while the small-cap Kosdaq reversed gains and fell 0.16%. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will meet French President Emmanuel Macron for a summit meeting Friday.
The Blue House said in a statement that the two countries are expected to upgrade their relationship to a ‘Global Strategic Partnership,’ marking the first upgrade in 22 years.
The Korea Times reported that the two sides are expected to discuss expanding cooperation in trade and investment, as well as in sectors such as artificial intelligence, nuclear energy and space.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.91%, driven by consumer non-cyclical stocks, and the broad-based Topix was 0.65% higher, powered by energy stocks.
On Friday, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama reportedly said that the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s nationwide address on Wednesday was “quite significant,” adding that speculative activity was seen in both crude oil futures and currency markets.
Yields on Japanese government bonds had also hit records, with the 2-year JGB yield reaching 1.391%, its highest level since 1995. The benchmark 10-year JGB bond yield was at 2.399%, its highest since 1999.
The CSI 300 index in mainland China reversed gains, falling 0.47%.
The Australian and Hong Kong markets were closed for the Easter weekend.
U.S. futures were little changed, with S&P 500 futures flat, and the Nasdaq-100 futures down 0.07%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 9 points, or 0.02%.
Overnight in the U.S., markets saw a volatile session amid rising oil prices, but the major indexes ended little changed, with the blue-chip Dow declining 61.07 points, or 0.13%.
The S&P 500 advanced 0.11%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.18%.
— CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger, Lisa Kailai Han and Sean Conlon contributed to this report.