Asian stocks lower and oil falls after Wall Street sets another record on ceasefire hopes
Apr 16, 2026, 9:24 PM | Updated: Apr 17, 2026, 6:34 am
A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks were lower Friday even after Wall Street set another record, as investors watched for signs of more U.S.-Iran talks and an extension of the ceasefire of the Iran war that is expiring next week.
Oil prices fell Friday, while U.S. futures edged up modestly.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 1% to 58,930.87 after reaching an all-time high on Thursday. South Korea’s Kospi was 0.6% lower at 6,191.19. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1% to 26,126.86, while the Shanghai Composite index edged down 0.1% to 4,051.45.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.3%, while Taiwan’s Taiex traded 0.5% lower.
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that he’s open to extending the two-week ceasefire in the Iran war, and Iran’s U.N. envoy said Tehran remained “cautiously optimistic” over negotiations with the U.S.
As optimism over an extended ceasefire grew, oil prices fell early Friday after climbing a day earlier. Brent crude, the international standard, was 1.1% lower at $98.31 per barrel. It had surged roughly 40% since the beginning of the Iran war in late February. Benchmark U.S. crude was down 1.4% to $89.90 a barrel.
Global energy shocks are growing over impacts of the Iran war, with the Strait of Hormuz remaining largely closed while the U.S. imposed a sea blockade on Iranian ports. The head of the International Energy Agency told The Associated Press on Thursday that Europe has “maybe six weeks or so” of jet fuel supplies remaining and warned of flight cancellations “soon.”
On Thursday, Wall Street set another record with the benchmark S&P 500 closing 0.3% higher at 7,041.28, just a day after it eclipsed its previous all-time high in January. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to 48,578.72, and the tech-focused Nasdaq composite added 0.4% to 24,102.70.
Shares of PepsiCo gained 2.3% following its announcement of better-than-expected quarterly results. U.S. logistics company J.B. Hunt Transport Services was 6.3% higher also on stronger-than-expected results.
In other dealings, gold and silver prices were up. Gold’s price was 0.1% higher at $4,814.60 an ounce, while silver prices gained 0.4% to $79.04 per ounce.
The U.S. dollar rose to 159.43 Japanese yen from 159.17 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1778, down from $1.1781.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.
