Asian Equities Fall as Renewed Middle East Tensions Spook Investors

By Ronnie Harui

Asian equities fell amid holiday-thinned trade on Tuesday as renewed tensions in the Strait of Hormuz rattled investors in the region.

The U.S.-Iran cease-fire has come under strain after Tehran fired at American warships and violently disrupted a U.S. effort to revive shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. After Iran fired cruise missiles and other projectiles at U.S. warships and commercial vessels, U.S. Central Command said it used Apache helicopters to sink the Iranian speedboats that were harassing traffic in the strait.

"A renewed flare-up in the Persian Gulf shattered confidence in the four-week-old U.S.-Iran ceasefire," Commerzbank Research analysts said in a research report. The main theme has been risk-off sentiment, the analysts added.

Singapore's FTSE Straits Times Index fell 0.3%, Malaysia's FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI edged 0.1% lower, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index lost 0.6%. Markets in China, Japan and South Korea are closed for public holidays.

Oil futures were lower early Tuesday on a possible technical correction after both West Texas Intermediate and Brent futures settled markedly higher overnight. However, declines are likely to be limited as the U.S.-Iran ceasefire faces pressure, analysts said.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were down 1.6% at $104.75 per barrel, and front-month Brent crude oil futures were 0.6% lower at $113.76 a barrel, according to ICE data.

Write to Ronnie Harui at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-04-26 2125ET