{"id":569382,"date":"2026-04-07T07:43:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T07:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/569382\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T07:43:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T07:43:14","slug":"asia-pacific-markets-trade-mixed-as-investors-assess-trumps-hardened-rhetoric-on-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/569382\/","title":{"rendered":"Asia-Pacific markets trade mixed as investors assess Trump’s hardened rhetoric on Iran war"},"content":{"rendered":"

A pedestrian walks past an electronic quotation board displaying the Nikkei 225 stock prices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on March 23, 2026. <\/p>\n

Kazuhiro Nogi | Afp | Getty Images<\/p>\n

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Tuesday following a volatile trading session, as investors assess Iran war-related developments with the U.S. deadline for a ceasefire deal approaching. <\/p>\n

U.S. President\u00a0Donald Trump<\/a> threatened to target Iran’s civilian infrastructure if a peace deal is not reached by Tuesday 8 p.m. ET, while also signaling that the Iranian leadership was negotiating in earnest. <\/p>\n

Trump reiterated his demand for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, which would allow traffic to start flowing again through the vital route for global energy supplies \u2014 warning the U.S. would decimate every bridge and power plant within four hours of that deadline not being met. <\/p>\n

The U.S. and Iran are weighing a framework plan<\/a> to end their 5-week-old conflict, with Tehran pushing back against Trump’s pressure to swiftly reopen the Strait of Hormuz under a temporary ceasefire, and repeating its demand for a lasting end to the war. <\/p>\n

Iran has rejected the U.S. ceasefire proposal and floated its own<\/a> 10 points<\/a>, including an end to hostilities in the region, a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, lifting of sanctions, and reconstruction, according to Axios. <\/p>\n

Trump responded to the proposal, saying that “They made a … significant proposal. Not good enough, but they have made a very significant step. We will see what happens.”<\/p>\n

The\u00a0West Texas Intermediate<\/a> crude futures rose 2.3% at $115 per barrel as of 3:28 p.m. ET. Brent crude<\/a>\u00a0gained about 1.5% at $111.37 a barrel. <\/p>\n

Australia’s\u00a0S&P\/ASX 200<\/a> advanced 1.74% to end the session at 8,728.8. Japan’s Nikkei 225<\/a> barely budged, finishing the day 0.03% higher at 53,429.56, while the broad-based Topix gained 0.25% at 3,654.02. <\/p>\n

South Korea’s blue-chip Kospi<\/a> was up 0.82% at 5,494.78, and the small-cap Kosdaq lost over 1% to finish at 1,036.73. <\/p>\n

Mainland China’s CSI 300 was unchanged at 4,440.62, and Hong Kong markets remained closed on Tuesday for the Easter holiday. <\/p>\n

India’s Nifty 50 shed 0.16% and Sensex was down 0.11%, tracking volatile trading in other Asian markets. <\/p>\n

“As the deadline approaches, [Trump] wants to apply even more pressure to get them across the finish line,” Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management. <\/p>\n

The headline-driven sharp swings in the markets, however, have created opportunities for investors to reshuffle their portfolios for longer-term returns, Jacobsen said. “When geopolitical worries hit the market, it tends to move prices indiscriminately. That’s when a discriminating investor can upgrade their portfolio.” <\/p>\n

Jacobsen pointed to “decent entry points” in companies across industries, including utilities, financials, industrials, and technology, while naming defense and energy companies as the “first-order” beneficiaries in the wake of the conflict. <\/p>\n

Stock Chart IconStock chart icon\"hide<\/p>\n

Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A pedestrian walks past an electronic quotation board displaying the Nikkei 225 stock prices on the Tokyo Stock…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[229112,247540,226593,247625,8073,1246,44599,116,28,122,17557,157,144,176193,1072,12,5240,213762,1922,18027,8070,227315,221018,801,227788,223325,132144,117999,132120,3471,7174,18019,221015,189174,112,7173,4763,114472,12662,18002,8071,32733,3997,1866,153670,203821,21,221165,221014,18013,251246],"class_list":{"0":"post-569382","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-lco26k","9":"tag-lco26m","10":"tag-lco26q","11":"tag-lco26u","12":"tag-asia-economy","13":"tag-australia","14":"tag-bp-plc","15":"tag-breaking-news-markets","16":"tag-business","17":"tag-business-news","18":"tag-chevron-corp","19":"tag-chicago","20":"tag-china","21":"tag-conocophillips","22":"tag-donald-j-trump","23":"tag-donald-trump","24":"tag-exxon-mobil-corp","25":"tag-fidelity-nasdaq-composite-index-track","26":"tag-foreign-policy","27":"tag-halliburton-co","28":"tag-hang-seng-index","29":"tag-invesco-aerospace-defense-etf","30":"tag-invesco-db-oil-fund","31":"tag-iran","32":"tag-ishares-global-energy-etf","33":"tag-ishares-msci-global-metals-mining-producers-etf","34":"tag-ishares-msci-india-etf","35":"tag-ishares-msci-japan-etf","36":"tag-ishares-u-s-aerospace-defense-etf","37":"tag-japan","38":"tag-kospi-index","39":"tag-lockheed-martin-corp","40":"tag-lp","41":"tag-marathon-petroleum-corp","42":"tag-markets","43":"tag-nikkei-225-index","44":"tag-northrop-grumman-corp","45":"tag-occidental-petroleum-equity-warrants-exp-3rd-august-2027","46":"tag-osaka","47":"tag-phillips-66","48":"tag-sp-asx-200","49":"tag-shell-plc","50":"tag-singapore","51":"tag-south-korea","52":"tag-tehran","53":"tag-totalenergies-se","54":"tag-united-states","55":"tag-united-states-brent-oil-fund","56":"tag-united-states-oil-fund","57":"tag-valero-energy-corp","58":"tag-xtrackers-nifty-500-india-etf"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}