Screens showing surging stock shares at the Taiwan Stock Exchange office, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s surprise decision to pause the global tariffs, in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 10, 2025.
Daniel Ceng | Anadolu | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were set to open higher Monday, as investors continue to keep a cautious eye on developments in the Middle East amid renewed tensions between Iran and the U.S.
PresidentDonald Trumpsaid Sunday that aU.S Navyguided missile destroyer had fired on and disabled anIranian-flaggedcargo shipin the Gulf of Oman before Marines boarded and seized the vessel.
The seizure is an escalation of the blockade and comes after Iran fired upon commercial vessels attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz earlier Sunday. The strait is between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
Since last week, the U.S. has been operating a naval blockade of ships entering and exiting Iranian ports. Iran views the ongoing blockade as a breach of the ceasefire reached by the U.S. and Iran, and cites this as one of its reasons for calling off the expected negotiations on Monday in Islamabad.
Trumpwarnedon Sunday he would “knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran” if Tehran did not agree to Washington’s terms to end the conflict.
West Texas Intermediate futures surged 7.98% to $90.53 per barrel as of 7:39 p.m. ET. Brent cruderose 6.87% higher to $96.59 per barrel.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was poised to gain, with the Chicago contract at 59,015 and its Osaka counterpart last trading at 59,690, compared with the index’s previous close of 58,475.90.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 26,502, higher than the index’s last close of 26,160.33.
In Australia, futures last traded at 9,056, above theS&P/ASX 200‘s last close of 8,946.90.
Overnight on Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average futuresshed 425 points, or 0.9%.S&P 500 futureslost 0.8%, while Nasdaq-100 futures fell 0.65%.
During Friday’s regular session, theS&P 500jumped 1.2% to close at 7,126.06, crossing the 7,100 threshold for the first time. TheNasdaq Compositegained 1.52% and settled at 24,468.48 for its 13th consecutive winning day and its longest positive streak since 1992. Both indexes posted fresh intraday and closing records.
— CNBC’s Fred Imbert, Sean Conlon, Lisa Kailai Han and Garrett Downs contributed to this report.
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