With the end of a two-week ceasefire approaching, the White House said Vice President JD Vance was ready to return to Pakistan for fresh negotiations to end a conflict that has sent crude soaring and revived inflation fears.<\/p>\n
However, the Islamic republic’s position remained uncertain as it accused Washington of violating their fragile truce through its blockade of the country’s ports and seizure of a ship.<\/p>\n
Crude plunged on Friday after Tehran said it would allow ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz, which had been effectively closed since the war began on February 28.<\/p>\n
But the commodity rebounded on Monday as Iran closed the waterway again, citing the blockade and seizure.<\/p>\n
Donald Trump has similarly accused Tehran of violating the ceasefire by harassing vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the transit passage for about one-fifth of global oil.<\/p>\n
The US president said the blockade would not be lifted until an agreement had been reached.<\/p>\n
“THE BLOCKADE, which we will not take off until there is a ‘DEAL,’ is absolutely destroying Iran,” Trump said on social media. “They are losing $500 Million Dollars a day, an unsustainable number, even in the short run.”<\/p>\n
He told PBS News that Iran was “supposed to be there” at the talks in Pakistan.<\/p>\n
“We agreed to be there,” he said, warning that if the ceasefire expired “then lots of bombs start going off”.<\/p>\n
He separately told Bloomberg News it was “highly unlikely” he would extend the truce.<\/p>\n
Based on its start time, the truce theoretically expires overnight on Tuesday, Iran time, although in his comments to Bloomberg Trump said the end was Wednesday evening Washington time.<\/p>\n
The Middle Eastern country’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said “Trump wants to turn this negotiating table into a surrender table or justify renewed hostilities, as he sees fit”.<\/p>\n
“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the last two weeks we have been preparing to show new cards on the battlefield,” he wrote on X.<\/p>\n
Still, investors remained largely upbeat that the two sides will eventually come to a deal that will reopen the strategic strait.<\/p>\n
US benchmark crude West Texas Intermediate rose more than one percent, while Brent was also higher.<\/p>\n
Tech rally<\/p>\n
Seoul led the equity market gains thanks to a resumption of the tech rally that had pushed the Kospi to multiple records before the war, while Tokyo and Taipei were also well up.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong, Singapore and Manila also advanced, although Shanghai and Sydney fluctuated.<\/p>\n
That came even after a down day on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite retreated from Friday’s record closes.<\/p>\n
Asia had opened “with a gentle lean into risk as signs Iran may join talks with the US offer a pathway, however narrow, toward easing tensions ahead of the ceasefire deadline”, wrote SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes.<\/p>\n
“Markets are pricing the possibility of progress rather than its certainty,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Trump’s remark that a ceasefire extension is ‘highly unlikely’ if no deal is reached has effectively put a clock on the market. <\/p>\n
“However, traders recognize the playbook. Hard deadlines and firm rhetoric often soften as negotiations evolve, but the presence of a timeline still sharpens positioning and raises the stakes around each headline.”<\/p>\n
In company news, Japanese arms firms enjoyed healthy buying after Tokyo said on Tuesday it would ease decades-old export rules, paving the way for the sale of lethal weapons overseas.<\/p>\n
The policy shift, which ends Tokyo’s self-imposed restraint on the sale of lethal arms, comes as it seeks to enter the international arms market, hoping to bolster national defence as well as boost economic growth.<\/p>\n
Fujitsu climbed 2.4 percent, NEC added 3.7 percent and Mitsubishi Electric was up 0.9 percent, while Mitsubishi Heavy gained 0.4 percent.<\/p>\n
Key figures around 0230 GMT<\/p>\n
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.2 percent at $88.50 a barrel<\/p>\n
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.4 percent at $95.12 a barrel<\/p>\n
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.3 percent at 59,596.10 (break)<\/p>\n
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.3 percent at 26,427.75<\/p>\n
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 4,073.82<\/p>\n
Euro\/dollar: DOWN at $1.1780 from $1.1786 on Monday<\/p>\n
Pound\/dollar: DOWN at $1.3525 from $1.3535<\/p>\n
Dollar\/yen: UP at 158.98 yen from 158.88 yen<\/p>\n
Euro\/pound: UP at 87.10 pence from 87.07 pence<\/p>\n
New York – Dow Jones: FLAT at 49,442.56 (close)<\/p>\n
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 10,609.08 (close)<\/p>\n
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