MARKETS: Asian stock markets are sticky – Trump gave Iran more time

In Asia, the stock markets were mostly down on Friday. President of the United States Donald Trump extended the deadline set for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz by ten days.

According to Trump, the reason for the extension was the progress of the negotiations and Iran’s request for an extension.

Wall Street Journal however toldthat the Pentagon is considering sending up to 10,000 additional troops to the Middle East.

At the time of review, Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.4 percent, while the broader Topix was up 0.1 percent.

In mainland China, the CSI 300 was up 0.4 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.6 percent.

South Korea’s Kospi index was down 0.8 percent and India’s Nifty 50 index was down 1.5 percent.

On the oil market, the price of Brent oil was falling on Friday. At the time of review, the price was around $107 per barrel. Meanwhile, the price of West Texas Intermediate oil was 94 dollars per barrel.

An Australian investment bank Macquarie Group estimated in a report published on Friday that oil prices could rise to as high as $200 per barrel if the Iran war drags on until June and the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.

According to Bloomberg, the scenario is given a probability of about 40 percent in the bank’s report. In an alternative scenario, which is considered more likely, the war would end already within the current month, which in turn would curb price pressure.

India cut taxes on diesel and petrol. According to Bloomberg, the aim of the measure is to ease cost pressures on refineries without having to raise consumer prices.

Publicly owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited has announced that it will not change retail fuel prices despite the tax cuts, and other refineries are expected to follow suit. State companies control about 90 percent of the gas station network in the country.

At 8:29 a.m. one euro was worth 1.15 dollars, 184.2 yen, 0.86 pounds and 10.8 Swedish kronor. The dollar was 159.63 yen and the pound was 1.33 dollars.

Based on index futures, an upward opening is expected for the United States on Friday. An increase in Europe is also expected.