Pedestrians stand in front of an electronic measurement board displaying the Nikkei Stock Average at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on a street in Tokyo on March 23, 2026.
Kazuhiro Nogi Afp | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets opened higher on Tuesday as oil prices, while higher, eased slightly following news that President Donald Trump is calling off a planned attack on Iran.
West Texas Intermediate futures for June were down 1.27% at $107.28 a barrel as of 8:01 pm ET. Brent crude futures for July were down 2.67% at $109.11 a barrel.
Investors were checking Japan’s first-quarter GDP data, which showed the economy grew by 2.1% annually in the first three months of the year. The growth was much higher than the average estimate of analysts polled by Reuters of 1.7%, and 1.3% in the previous quarter. These figures do not capture the full impact of the war on Iran, which began at the end of February.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.68%, while the Topix added 1.16%.
A summit meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung later will also be in focus. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.06% while the smaller Kosdaq was flat.
Australia’s ASX was 1.08% higher.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 25,558, lower than the index’s last close of 25,675.18.
Trump said in a Truth Social post that U.S. military leaders were told to stop “a planned attack on Iran tomorrow” after requests from the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“A deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, and all the countries of the Middle East, and beyond. This deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!,” added Trump.
However, Trump warned that he had informed his military leaders “to be prepared to proceed with a full-scale, massive attack on Iran, at a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable deal is not reached.”
Despite the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran, the vital Strait of Hormuz remains closed by Tehran, while the US continues to block Iranian ports.
“As the conflict in the Middle East enters its third month, there is little hope for a quick and firm resolution between the US and Iran and the full opening of the Strait of Hormuz,” Moody’s said in the note.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 were up 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.2%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advanced 25 points, or 0.05%.
During the regular session on Monday, the broader market S&P 500 the benchmark fell 0.07% to end at 7,403.05, while tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 0.51% and closed at 26,090.73. It was the second straight day of declines in both indexes. I The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 159.95 points, or 0.32%, at 49,686.12.
– CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han, Kevin Breuninger, Sean Conlon, Fred Imbert and Lim Hui Jie contributed to this report.
