Markets Asia: Iran tensions drive oil price - Asian stock markets mixed
Asian investors are keeping an eye on the commodities market and US monetary policy. The region's key indexes are not finding a common direction in the morning.
Singapore - The ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran have driven up oil prices, causing a disjointed sentiment across Asia's stock markets, according to market analysts. US President Donald Trump demanded Iranian reparations as a new condition for a peace agreement on Monday, complicating efforts to reopen the crucial Hormuz Strait shipping route.
"We are now in a kind of standstill situation where it is about who gives in first," said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG. The broad MSCI index for Asian-Pacific stocks excluding Japan was trending downwards, while the Japanese Nikkei rose by nearly two percent and the broader Topix index increased by around 0.6 percent. However, the Shanghai Composite fell slightly.
Investors are now looking to US inflation data due on Wednesday, as a surprise rise could reignite bets on a rate hike by the US Federal Reserve in the following month. US markets closed barely unchanged as attention focused on the inflation data.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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