A man passes an electronic quotation board displaying the Nikkei 225 stock prices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on March 31, 2026. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Kazuhiro Nogi | Afp | Getty Images<\/p>\n
Asia-Pacific markets opened mostly lower Thursday, tracking overnight losses in key Wall Street benchmarks as oil prices extended gains amid a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, while the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady.<\/p>\n
Oil climbed after The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials, reported that President\u00a0Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0had told aides to\u00a0prepare for an extended blockade of Iran<\/a>. Prices extended gains after Axios reported that Trump rejected Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, signaling the U.S. naval blockade will remain until a deal addressing Tehran’s nuclear program is reached.<\/p>\n Brent crude rose about 1.96% to around $120 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate added 0.2% to $107.09.<\/p>\n In Australia, the\u00a0S&P\/ASX 200<\/a> lost 0.43%.<\/p>\n Japanese markets declined as trading resumed after a holiday. The benchmark Nikkei 225<\/a> lost 0.91%, while the Topix fell 1.48%. South Korea’s Kospi was 0.36% higher while the small-cap Kosdaq was down 0.25%.<\/p>\n Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index<\/a> futures last traded at 25,729, compared with the index’s Wednesday close of 26,111.84.<\/p>\n In the U.S., futures tied to the S&P 500<\/a> added 0.3%, while\u00a0Nasdaq 100 futures<\/a>\u00a0gained 0.5%.\u00a0Dow Jones Industrial Average futures<\/a>\u00a0fell 128 points, or 0.2%.<\/p>\n Overnight in the U.S., the\u00a0Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/a>\u00a0closed lower. The 30-stock index fell 280.12 points, or 0.57%, to close at 48,861.81 and notch a fifth straight losing day. The\u00a0S&P 500<\/a>\u00a0inched down 0.04% to close at 7,135.95, while the\u00a0Nasdaq Composite<\/a>\u00a0crept up 0.04% to 24,673.24.<\/p>\n \u2014 CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report.<\/p>\n