Oil prices fell by more than 4% after the US and Iran refrained from further attacks while discussions continued over a possible interim ceasefire.
Iran said it would halt its military operations for as long as the US maintained its pause in airstrikes, raising hopes that the conflict could temporarily ease after unsettling global markets.
A senior Iranian official said Tehran’s position remained “attack for attack”, meaning Iranian operations would remain suspended if US strikes did not resume. The comments followed the Pentagon’s decision to halt its bombing campaign late on Friday after 13 consecutive nights of attacks.
No US or Iranian strikes were reported over the weekend. US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said President Donald Trump had paused the operation to give diplomacy more time.
Asian equity markets were mostly higher on the reduced geopolitical risk. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.2% to 64,771.02, while South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.3% to 6,708.87.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.8% to 25,164.81, while the Shanghai Composite added 0.4% to 3,827.96.
Chinese memory-chip maker CXMT surged around 470% on its Shanghai technology-board debut, giving the company an estimated market value of 3.3 trillion yuan, or close to £367 billion.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.3% to 8,883.00, while India’s Sensex rose 0.7%. Taiwan’s Taiex slipped 0.3%.
On Wall Street on Friday, the S&P 500 edged up by less than 0.1% to 7,411.98, although it recorded a second consecutive weekly decline for the first time since March.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5% to 51,947.25, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6% to 24,975.82 as several large technology stocks came under pressure.
