This content was published on <\/p>\n
April 17, 2026 – 02:56\n<\/p>\n
(Bloomberg) \u2014 Asian stocks fell as investors lightened their positions ahead of the weekend while awaiting progress on extending the US-Iran ceasefire, after a rally driven by expectations the truce would be prolonged.<\/p>\n
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.4%, snapping a three-day rally. The cautious end to the week followed a 10-day rally in global equities that pushed markets to a record high, as traders bet easing tensions will lower oil prices and support economic growth. Wall Street gauges also closed at an all-time high for a second consecutive day.<\/p>\n
Global crude benchmark Brent slipped 1.3% to $98.14 a barrel after President Donald Trump expressed optimism about securing a permanent ceasefire with Iran ahead of the expiry of the current truce next week. Gold edged higher, while Treasuries were little changed<\/p>\n
Investors are awaiting progress in talks that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz, easing crude flows and relieving pressure on economies after oil prices surged following the conflict\u2019s onset in late February. While oil has pared its war-driven premium and stocks have climbed to record highs, economists are warning that markets may be underestimating the war\u2019s economic toll.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarkets head into the final session of the week sitting at key technical and psychological levels, with conviction still lacking as traders wait for clearer signals out of the Middle East,\u201d Nick Twidale, chief market analyst at AT Global Markets, wrote in a note.<\/p>\n
Trump claimed, without evidence, that Iran had agreed to terms it has long resisted, including giving up ambitions for a nuclear weapon and turning over nuclear material. The deal would also include \u201cfree oil\u201d and an opening of the Strait of Hormuz, the President said. Tehran hasn\u2019t confirmed it\u2019s made those concessions.<\/p>\n
The prospects for a deal with Iran are \u201clooking very good.\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. His announcement on Thursday made no mention of Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed in a video message that he\u2019d agreed to the truce.<\/p>\n
Traders are also focused on the dollar, which has weakened after rallying on haven demand since the war began in late February. Deutsche Bank AG and Wells Fargo & Co. are among banks declaring the greenback\u2019s war-driven haven rally is likely over as the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran prompts investors to seek riskier assets.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Netflix Inc. slid in after-hours trading after issuing a second-quarter forecast that missed analysts\u2019 expectations. US equity-index futures were mixed with contracts for the S&P 500 Index edging up 0.1%, while contracts for the Nasdaq 100 was flat.<\/p>\n
US stocks were buoyed by cooler-than-expected US producer and import prices this week, and got another lift after initial jobless claims for the week ending April 11 came in below economist forecasts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is yet another sign of headline fatigue as it relates to the war in the Gulf region,\u201d said Ian Lyngen at BMO. \u201cThe prevailing consolidation pattern is also suggestive that the influence of fresh geopolitical headlines is waning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some of the main moves in markets:<\/p>\n
Stocks<\/p>\n
S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 9:55 a.m. Tokyo time Hang Seng futures fell 0.5% Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) fell 0.8% Japan\u2019s Topix fell 0.8% Australia\u2019s S&P\/ASX 200 fell 0.3% Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.2% Currencies<\/p>\n
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1780 The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 159.33 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.8212 per dollar Cryptocurrencies<\/p>\n
Bitcoin fell 0.3% to $74,982.98 Ether fell 0.2% to $2,345.65 Bonds<\/p>\n
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.31% Japan\u2019s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 2.410% Australia\u2019s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 4.99% Commodities<\/p>\n
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.4% to $93.33 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.1% to $4,795.47 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.<\/p>\n
\u00a92026 Bloomberg L.P.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This content was published on April 17, 2026 – 02:56 (Bloomberg) \u2014 Asian stocks fell as investors lightened…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[114,6144,85,46,6145],"class_list":{"0":"post-396206","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-business-general","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-ticker"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}