Asia-Pacific markets were set to open mixed Wednesday as investors assessed recent U.S. military action in Iran, the fragile state of the Washington-Tehran ceasefire and optimism that a deal could still be reached.
U.S. forces carried out what the Pentagon described as “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran early Tuesday, targeting missile launch sites and Iranian vessels allegedly attempting to deploy mines, even as Washington insisted it was still observing restraint under the ongoing ceasefire framework.
The military action highlighted the fragile truce between Washington and Tehran, with both sides continuing to test limits despite negotiations that the White House has described as nearing completion.
President Donald Trump said Monday that talks with Iran to end the war were “proceeding nicely.” That said, he did warn the U.S. could go on the offensive if negotiations break down.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was poised to rise, with the Chicago futures contract at 65,620 and the Osaka counterpart last trading at 65,510 compared with the index’s previous close of 64,996.09.
In Australia, futures last traded at 8,677, higher than the S&P/ASX 200‘s last close of 8,657.8.
However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were last at 25,508, lower than the index’s last close of 25,599.45.
Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose to fresh intraday all-time highs on Tuesday, led by technology, as traders weighed the developments in the Middle East.
The broad market S&P 500 gained 0.61% and ended at 7,519.12, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.19% to 26,656.18. Both indexes also closed at records. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 118.02 points, or 0.23%, ending at 50,461.68. U.S. stock markets were closed Monday due to the Memorial Day holiday.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Fred Imbert contributed to this report
Source: CNBC