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April 24, 2026 – 01:21

(Bloomberg) — Asian equities were set to open lower after Wall Street losses, as concerns grew that US-Iran talks were making little progress toward de-escalating the Middle East conflict, effectively keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed. Oil advanced.

Equity-index futures pointed to losses for gauges in Japan, South Korea and Australia, taking cues from declines in US stocks. The S&P 500 fell 0.4% while the Nasdaq 100 dropped 0.6% on Thursday. Semiconductor stocks were outliers, climbing for a 17th trading day, while Intel Corp. jumped 19% in after-market as its sales forecast beat Wall Street expectations.

West Texas Intermediate gained 1.3% to over $97 a barrel on Friday as geopolitical risks intensified. An index of the dollar rose for a third day on Thursday, its best run this month, while Treasuries fell across the curve as higher oil prices stoke inflation concerns.

Investors remained cautious as markets hinge on whether Iran tensions escalate or shift toward diplomacy. Traders will watch signals from Washington and Tehran, along with shipping flows, for clues on energy supply risks, with any Strait of Hormuz disruption likely to keep oil elevated and weigh on global economic growth.

“There’s a fair bit of uncertainty when it comes to diplomacy between the two sides,” said Fawad Razaqzada at Forex.com. “Less comforting is the ongoing lack of clarity around the Strait of Hormuz. With no clear plan to reopen it, uncertainty remains elevated.”

Late Thursday in the US, President Donald Trump said Israel and Lebanon will extend their ceasefire by three weeks. The move creates space to work on a long-term deal and removes a roadblock to ending the US war with Iran.

Earlier, Trump ordered the US Navy to fire on any vessel laying mines in the strait, while adding Tehran wants a deal and talks are underway, and cautioned Americans to expect higher gasoline prices “for a little while.” Iran’s Mehr news agency said air defenses were activated over parts of Tehran against “hostile targets.”

Meanwhile, US forces boarded a supertanker carrying Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean as the navy steps up its blockade of the Islamic Republic’s shipping. Tehran continues to keep Hormuz effectively closed, preventing the passage of hundreds of millions of barrels of oil and fuel as well as other commercial traffic.

“As long as flows through the Strait remain restricted, the market keeps tightening and oil inventories keep falling, oil prices will remain supported,” said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS Group AG in Zurich.

In Asia, the yen was flat early Friday after weakening against the dollar for a fourth session on Thursday.

Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama warned that officials are in close contact around the clock with their US counterparts as Tokyo remains on high alert over speculative moves that are keeping the yen weak.

In other corners of the market, gold opened little changed on Friday after declining in its previous session. Elsewhere, Bitcoin was steady, trading at around $78,000.

Also, Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are planning cuts or announcing buyouts that could affect as many as 23,000 jobs, part of an effort to streamline operations and offset heavy spending on artificial intelligence.

Traders also sifted through earnings. Software shares got hit as International Business Machines Corp. and ServiceNow Inc.’s numbers failed to ease concerns about artificial-intelligence disruption. Tesla Inc. slid as plans to boost spending overshadowed better-than-expected results. Texas Instruments Inc. jumped on a solid outlook.

Despite lingering geopolitical risks, the S&P 500 is poised for its best month since 2023 amid strong corporate profits and an otherwise resilient economy. Nearly 80% of the US equity benchmark’s firms have beaten first-quarter earnings estimates so far, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

While volatility understandably increased with the onset of the Iran conflict, financial markets have proven relatively resilient, noted Adam Hetts and Oliver Blackbourn at Janus Henderson.

“Investors coalesced around the critical assumption that hostilities and the associated disruptions to the global economy would be short lived,” they said. “Our sentiment and positioning indicators showed drawdowns within several market segments reaching capitulation territory and could therefore represent attractive entry points.”

Corporate Highlights:

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. shareholders voted overwhelmingly to approve a merger with Paramount Skydance Corp., despite widespread opposition to the deal in Hollywood. Spirit Aviation Holdings Inc. is in “very advanced discussions” with the US government on terms of a material financing package, its lawyer Marshall Huebner said Thursday. Super Micro Computer Inc. sank after BlueFin Research wrote that the server company had “lost a significant contract” with Oracle Corp. Comcast Corp. reported first-quarter financial results that exceeded analysts’ estimates with fewer losses among broadband customers, offsetting lackluster growth at its Peacock streaming service. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 8:16 a.m. Tokyo time Hang Seng futures fell 0.5% S&P/ASX 200 futures were little changed Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was unchanged at $1.1683 The Japanese yen was little changed at 159.73 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.8353 per dollar The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.7131 Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 0.2% to $78,088.13 Ether was little changed at $2,326.77 Bonds

Australia’s 10-year yield was little changed at 5.00% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.3% to $97.09 a barrel Spot gold was little changed This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

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