Indian shares fall
Financials and automakers dragged Indian shares down on Thursday, as Brent crude topped $100 a barrel after Iran seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz and peace talks showed no sign of resuming.
The Nifty 50 lost 0.84 percent to 24,173.05, while the BSE Sensex shed 1.09 percent to 77,664.
Brent crude rose for a fourth straight session to trade above $103 a barrel as uncertainty over Middle East peace talks lingered. Other Asian markets fell 0.4 percent.
HSBC downgraded Indian equities to “underweight” from “neutral” on Thursday, citing the impact of high energy prices on India. Foreign investors sold a net $4.4 billion worth of Indian shares in April and $18.6 billion so far in 2026.
“Despite lingering Mideast tensions, April’s rebound after March’s slump suggests domestic investors are taking comfort in valuations and betting on an early resolution, even as foreign investors stay wary of high oil prices and rupee weakness,” said G. Chokkalingam, founder and head of research at Equinomics Research.
South Korea’s Kospi rallies to another record high
South Korean shares crossed the 6,500 level for the first time on Thursday, as SK Hynix’s record earnings bolstered investor sentiment amid uncertainties surrounding the US-Iran peace talks.
The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.
The benchmark KOSPI was up 111.63 points, or 1.78 percent, at 6,532.24, as of 0116 GMT, extending its year-to-date gain to 55 percent.
SK Hynix posted a more than five-fold jump in first-quarter operating profit to a record high, as the artificial intelligence boom drove strong demand for both advanced and conventional memory chip products. Its shares gained 0.82 percent.
Australia shares fall
Australian shares dropped to a more than two-week low on Thursday, across most sectors, as markets worried about reports of gunfire attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and dwindling hopes of a peace deal.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.3 percent to 8,816.30 by 0031 GMT, its lowest level since April 8.
The benchmark dropped 1.2 percent on Wednesday.
Top weighted financials lagged 0.9 percent, on track for a ninth-straight session of losses. The downbeat mood towards the sector comes as two of the four largest lenders – Westpac and National Australia Bank had flagged operational impacts this month due to war-driven market volatility.
No.1 valued lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia shed 1 percent, while ANZ lost 1.3 percent. Westpac and NAB dropped 1.1 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
Overall losses were limited by heavyweight miners BHP and Rio Tinto, which gained 0.6 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. Both producers reported higher quarterly iron ore output earlier this week.
China, HK stocks fall
China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.8 percent each. Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng was down 1.1 percent.
Risk sentiment weakened after Iran seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, tightening its grip on the strategic waterway a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was indefinitely calling off attacks, with no sign of peace talks restarting.
Non-ferrous metals shares lost 4.1 percent, leading declines onshore, while energy stocks rose 2.4 percent to a two-week high. The coal index was up 1.9 percent.
Semiconductor stocks fell 2.5 percent, after Reuters reported Micron Technology, the largest U.S. memory chipmaker, pushed the U.S. Congress to crack down on chip tool sales to Chinese rivals.
Japan’s Nikkei crosses key 60,000 level
Japan’s Nikkei share average crossed the 60,000 level for the first time on Thursday, lifted earlier by technology stocks as risk sentiment improved after U.S. President Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran.
The index, however, shed early gains in choppy trade and was little changed by 0127 GMT, after falling as much as 0.7 percent earlier in the session. It touched a record high of 60,013.98 at its peak.
The broader Topix was also flat at 3,744.93.
Trump said the indefinite extension of the ceasefire followed a request by Pakistani mediators. However, the U.S. Navy’s blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect, and Iran seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
“There are still uncertainties surrounding the Middle East war. The Strait of Hormuz is not completely open and the oil prices remain high,” said Hiroyuki Ueno, chief strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management.
“Investors have bought the shares on optimism for the war’s end until now. But for the index to rise , they need more positive cues that support the fundamentals that could also lift domestic demand-related stocks.”
The Nikkei has recouped all losses since the start of the U.S.-Iran war in late February, though gains have been driven by a narrow group of artificial intelligence‑related stocks, including SoftBank Group and Advantest.
The so-called NT ratio, the Nikkei 225 divided by the broader Topix, hit a record high of 15.74 on Wednesday, underscoring how the rally has outpaced the wider market.
Wall St gains as Iran ceasefire extension
Wall Street’s main indexes climbed on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran, even as uncertainty remained over whether Tehran and US ally Israel would honor the truce.
Trump said the indefinite extension of the ceasefire followed a request by Pakistani mediators. However, the US Navy’s blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect, and Iran seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The opening of the waterway, responsible for about 20 percent of global oil supply, remains a major unknown for investors and has been one of the sticking points in the negotiations.
The bullish sentiment despite the uncertainty points to a market desperate to cling to good news, and reflects investor belief that despite setbacks, the war will be settled at the negotiating table instead of the battlefield.
At 11:25 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 381.18 points, or 0.78 percent, to 49,530.56, the S&P 500 gained 61.56 points, or 0.87 percent, to 7,125.15 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 313.74 points, or 1.29 percent, to 24,573.70.