The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.9% at the open, following clashes between the US and Iran. US stock-index futures erased their losses from the open and traded flat.
Brent crude jumped 2.3% to over $102 a barrel on concerns the Middle East crisis will prolong the closure of the key Strait of Hormuz. The dollar strengthened and the 10-year Treasury yield held gains from the previous session as the outlook for a deal to end the 10-week war worsened.
American forces responded to Iranian attacks on Navy destroyers as they were sailing in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, US Central Command said. “Just like we knocked them out again today, we’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their Deal signed, FAST!” President Donald Trump said in a social media post. Trump described the action a “love tap” in a telephone interview with ABC News, and said that the ceasefire with Iran was still “in effect.”
While stocks signaled a modest weakness on Friday, traders have at times looked past geopolitical headlines, helping drive equities to record highs amid a revival in the artificial intelligence trade. Even with bouts of volatility, investors continue to focus on signs that the US is seeking to de-escalate the situation.
“Investors are now assuming some resolution in the next month or so in terms of the Iran war or Strait of Hormuz,” said Jun Bei Liu, co-founder of hedge fund Ten Cap Investment Management. “Near term, there might be volatility, news headlines like today, but the market will move to buy the dip unless a new flare up becomes severe.”The US is looking to restart the initiative to guide stranded ships through Hormuz that it had paused earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported. The plan, which Trump dubbed “Project Freedom,” had resulted in clashes with Iran and missiles fired at the United Arab Emirates.Washington is waiting on Tehran to respond to its proposal to reopen the strait, with tensions still high in both the Persian Gulf and in Lebanon. An Iranian official said the nation wouldn’t allow a reopening with “an unrealistic plan,” the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Press TV.
“Across equity markets, the pace of gains has indeed been quite rapid with limited drivers, so when negative news emerges, markets are vulnerable to profit taking,” said Yugo Tsuboi, chief strategist at Daiwa Securities Co. “I don’t believe the optimism about reaching an agreement that built up over the past week will completely disappear after this.”
Elsewhere, Trump’s 10% global tariffs were declared unlawful by a federal trade court in a fresh blow to the administration’s economic agenda in the latest setback for the president’s effort to levy tariffs without input from Congress.
While the fall in stocks indicated that Asian trading week would end on a downbeat note, the previous four sessions saw regional equities repeatedly climb to record highs. South Korea’s Kospi Index has jumped 11% this week, extending its advance this year to 74%.
The Kospi is the world’s best-performing gauge in 2026 as traders bet the country’s corporations will boost earnings as the key suppliers to the artificial intelligence buildout.
“Once again, the news flow on the geopolitical front has shown that the path towards a lasting agreement is anything but linear,” wrote Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group. “Traders have had to rethink the assumptions on the trajectory of the conflict and the normalization of vessel flows through Hormuz that had been made over the last couple of sessions.”
On the economic front, initial jobless claims rebounded slightly after falling in the previous week to near the lowest levels in decades, signaling layoffs remain muted. Friday’s jobs reading is expected to show the first back-to-back monthly increases in payrolls in almost a year.
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