Asian Equities Mixed as Markets Watch Middle East -- Update

By Ronnie Harui and Sherry Qin

Asian equity markets came off their lows for the day be mixed in Friday afternoon's trade as investors weighed developments in the Middle East.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was 0.2% lower, South Korea's Kospi was off 0.5%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index was 0.1% lower. Among the gainers, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.8% and China's Shanghai Composite Index put up 0.75%.

The Pentagon is considering sending up to 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East to give President Trump more military options, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Department of Defense officials with knowledge of the planning. This force would be added to around 5,000 Marines and the thousands of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division who have already been ordered to the Middle East.

However, Trump said Thursday that he had extended a pause on U.S. military strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure for 10 more days to April 6 so that negotiations can take place. The Wall Street Journal reported, citing peace talk mediators, that Iran hasn't requested the 10-day pause and has yet to submit its final response to the U.S.'s 15-point plan to end the war.

Doubts about de-escalation in the Middle East conflict have lingered, said two FX strategists at OCBC Group Research in a research report. "The broader growth drag from higher oil and the associated risk-off tone is now dominating," the strategists added.

The U.S. dollar Index was last flat at 99.86, but it has been trending higher this month and now near the psychologically-important 100 level. XS.com analyst Rania Gule thinks that signals rising global demand for safe-haven assets in an environment marked by growing geopolitical uncertainty.

Risk-sensitive and energy-importing currencies were mixed on Friday. The dollar edged 0.15% lower to 159.57 yen but was 0.3% higher at 60.32 Philippine peso. The dollar rose to a record against the Indian rupee on Friday afternoon, and was last up 0.3% at 94.53 rupees.

Precious metals have regained momentum with spot gold up 1.9% at $4,462.01 a troy ounce and spot silver rising 2.9% to $69.93 an troy ounce.

Meanwhile, front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures declined 0.8% to $93.72 per barrel and front-month Brent crude oil futures slipped 0.3% to $107.68 a barrel, according to ICE data.

"Looking into next week, oil direction will depend heavily on whether ceasefire rhetoric turns into concrete action," Phillip Nova analyst Priyanka Sachdeva said.

Write to Ronnie Harui at [e-mail] and Sherry Qin at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-27-26 0233ET