This content was published on <\/p>\n
April 17, 2026 – 03:55\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 0.8%, snapping three days of gains. 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 all-time highs for a second consecutive day.<\/p>\n
Global crude benchmark Brent dropped 1.1% to $98.25 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 was a touch weaker at around $4,775 an ounce, 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, policymakers 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
\u201cAsian markets are pricing in a ceasefire extension that does not yet exist,\u201d said Oriano Lizza, a sales trader at CMC Markets in Singapore. \u201cThe Nikkei has soared past its February record, while Brent crude has steadied above $94 per barrel after whipsawing at the start of the week. These moves have relied on diplomatic signals rather than a signed deal. That sets up real risk in current market positions.\u201d<\/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
\u201cThe week rounds out on a slight lull, with limited event risk and a cautious eye on the weekend, which markets have become accustomed to bringing fresh geopolitical risk,\u201d wrote Kyle Rodda, an analyst at Capital.com Inc.<\/p>\n
Some of the main moves in markets:<\/p>\n
Stocks<\/p>\n
S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 10:48 a.m. Tokyo time Japan\u2019s Topix fell 1.1% Australia\u2019s S&P\/ASX 200 fell 0.3% Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng fell 0.8% The Shanghai Composite fell 0.2% Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.1% Currencies<\/p>\n
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1777 The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 159.34 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.8230 per dollar Cryptocurrencies<\/p>\n
Bitcoin fell 0.7% to $74,708.49 Ether fell 0.8% to $2,331.98 Bonds<\/p>\n
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.31% Japan\u2019s 10-year yield was unchanged at 2.405% Australia\u2019s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 5.01% Commodities<\/p>\n
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.6% to $93.22 a barrel Spot gold fell 0.3% to $4,777.68 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.<\/p>\n
\u2013With assistance from Bernadette Toh.<\/p>\n
\u00a92026 Bloomberg L.P.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This content was published on April 17, 2026 – 03:55 (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-396299","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\/396299","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=396299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396299\/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=396299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}