Global stocks fell on Thursday following what the US military said were defensive strikes against Iran.
Oil prices gained more than $2 a barrel after falling sharply the previous day.
In early European trading, Germany’s DAX was almost unchanged at 25,175.63 and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.4 percent to 8,172.84. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.9 percent to 10,416.62.
Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.1%.
American officials say that the Central Command forces shot down four Iranian warplanes that were attacking in one direction that were dangerous near the Strait of Hormuz. US forces also hit an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth plane. That attack followed another earlier in the week.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump asserted that Iran was “negotiating through smoke” and said the November mid-term elections in the United States would not prompt him to rush a deal to end the three-month conflict.
During Asian trading, Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.5 percent to 64,693.12, while South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.5 percent to 8,185.29.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.3 percent to 25,006.16, while the Shanghai Composite index edged up 0.1 percent to 4,098.64.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.4 percent to 8,592.90, while Taiwan’s Taiex fell 1.4 percent.
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“Conflicting reports on the US-Iran deal eased risks as markets grew wary of the possibility of a deal,” Tan Boon Heng of Mizuho Bank in Singapore said in a statement.
“Despite the desire to maintain the agreement to end hostilities with Iran and (star) the US softening the language on renewed attacks and insisting on indirect channels of communication, it is still surprisingly difficult to imagine how to reach an agreement on important issues,” he said.
On Wednesday, US stocks hit multiple records after oil prices fell by more than four percent, easing pressure on consumers and businesses around the world.
The S&P 500 rose less than 0.1 percent to 7,520.36 and the Dow rose 0.4 percent, to 50,644.28. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.1 percent to 26,674.73. All three indicators set all-time highs.
Shares of heavily indebted oil companies helped lead the way on hopes that lower oil prices would take a bigger drag on their profits. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings rose 6.1 percent, while United Airlines gained 6.3 percent. Delta Air Lines rose 3 percent to a record high.
The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil fell 4.6 percent to $92.25 after a peace deal between the United States and Iran appeared to have stalled despite the U.S. military launching what it called “defence” in southern Iran.
However, after the latest strikes, early Thursday Brent was up $2.14 at $94.44 a barrel.
A barrel of benchmark US crude gained $2.12 to $90.80. On Wednesday, it fell 5.5 percent, to settle at $88.68, back from its mid-April high.
Prices were reduced, after rising to more than $100 a barrel, in the hope that the United States and Iran could reach an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and allow oil tankers to leave the Persian Gulf for resupply.
Stocks were able to run to records despite painful inflation and uncertainty caused by high oil prices mainly because companies reported surprisingly strong profits in early 2026, and are forecast to continue.
In other action early Thursday, the US dollar rose to 159.50 Japanese yen from 159.51 yen. The euro fell to $1.1611 from $1.1626.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
