Asia-Pacific markets were set to open mixed Monday as higher oil prices and escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran weighed on investor sentiment after President Donald Trump‘srejected Tehran’s latest proposal to end the war.
Iran submitted a new proposal to U.S. negotiators focused on ending the Middle East conflict. Iran’s semi-officialTasnim news agency said that the counteroffer called for an end to the war on all fronts and the lifting of sanctions on Tehran, citing an informed source.
However, Trump said hedid not likeIran’s response and called it “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” in a Truth Social Post.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahusaid Sunday that the war withIranis “not over,” as the U.S. and Israel still aim to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
Netanyahu’s comments come ahead of Trump‘s trip to China later this week, where he’s expected to meet with Chinese PresidentXi Jinping. The war and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran have spiked global energy costs and sharply raised gas prices in the U.S.
TheWest Texas Intermediatefutures for June was 2.93% higher at $98.35 per barrel as of 7:30 p.m. ET.Brent crudefutures for July rose 3.14% to $104.47 per barrel.
Japan’sNikkei 225was poised to gain, with the Chicago futures contract at 63,745 and its Osaka counterpart last trading at 63,760, compared with the index’s previous close of 62,713.65.
Hong KongHang Seng indexfutures were at 26,250, lower than the index’s last close of 26,393.71.
In Australia, futures last traded at 8,736, while theS&P/ASX 200′s closed at 8,744.40.
Futurestied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 143 points, or 0.3%.S&P 500 futuresandNasdaq 100 futureseach also lost 0.3%.
Sunday’s moves come after theS&P 500andNasdaq Compositerallied more than 2% and 4%, respectively, last week. Both indexes recorded their sixth-straight winning weeks — a first for each since 2024.
TheDowrose 0.2% for the week, notching its fifth week of gains out of the last six.
— CNBC’s Alex Harring and Garrett Downs contributed to this report.
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