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Asia-Pacific markets decline amid escalating Iran-U.S. tensions
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Key Points
- Asia markets fell as U.S.-Iran tensions unsettled investors.
- U.S. and Iran traded fire in the Strait of Hormuz, with each side claiming the other initiated the attack.
- U.S. tech weakness weighed on Wall Street despite the Nasdaq’s record.
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Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTOffshore vessel 'Zakher Duty' at the Port of Fujairah, as the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran limits marine traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, May 6, 2026. Amr Alfiky | ReutersAsia-Pacific markets opened lower Friday, as concerns grew over renewed hostilities between Iran and the U.S. amid a fragile ceasefire.
The U.S. and Iran traded fire in the Strait of Hormuz, with each side claiming the other initiated the attack.
Despite the escalation, President Donald Trump insisted that the ceasefire remains in effect, saying the strikes are "just a love tap" during a call with an ABC News reporter later Thursday.
Trump later claimed in a subsequent Truth Social post that the U.S. "completely destroyed" the Iranians involved in the exchange, which he said included small boats and drones that "dropped ever so beautifully down to the Ocean, very much like a butterfly dropping to its grave!"
He reiterated that Iran will face further attacks if they do not agree to a nuclear deal.
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"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!" Trump wrote.
Oil futures surged. The West Texas Intermediate futures for June was 2.23% higher at $96.92 per barrel as of 8:02 p.m. ET. Brent crude futures for July gained 2.40% at $102.46 per barrel.
South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.88% while the small-cap Kosdaq was 0.56% higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.62% amid some profit-taking after hitting a record high on Thursday.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.88%.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 26,285, lower than the index's last close of 26,626.28.
Stock Chart IconStock chart icon S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were down less than 0.1%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 12 points, or less than 0.1%.
During Thursday's regular session, the broad market S&P 500 fell 0.38% to close at 7,337.11, dragged lower by losses in Amazon as well as semiconductor stocks such as Broadcom and Micron Technology. The Nasdaq Composite slid 0.13% and ended at 25,806.20. The tech-heavy index had also scored a fresh all-time high during the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 313.62 points, or 0.63%, settling at 49,596.97.
— CNBC's Kevin Breuninger, Sean Conlon and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report._