Asia-Pacific markets opened the week broadly lower on Monday as investors assessed renewed tensions in the Middle East after Iran targeted U.S. facilities across several Gulf countries over the weekend and declared the Strait of Hormuz closed.
U.S. President Donald Trump disputed the claim on Sunday. In comments given during a telephone interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press programme, saying the key shipping route remained open to commercial traffic, but concerns over a potential escalation in the conflict weighed on regional sentiment.
By 12:00 pm AEST (2:00 am GMT), Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was trading 0.3% lower, Japan's Nikkei 225 had declined 1.7%, and South Korea's KOSPI 200 dropped 5.4%.
Wall Street provided a stronger lead on Friday, with major U.S. benchmarks finishing higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3%, the S&P 500 advanced 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.3%.
In commodities, ICE Brent crude futures eased 0.4% on Friday to settle at US$76.01 a barrel, while spot gold declined 0.3% to finish at $4,111.51 an ounce.
Chinese equities ended lower on Friday, with the Shanghai Composite Index falling 1% to 3,996.2 and the CSI 300 declining 2% to 4,780.8.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index bucked the regional trend, rising 0.6% to 24,175.1, while India's BSE Sensex gained 1.1% to 77,569.4.
European markets finished mixed on Friday. The UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.2% to 10,497.3, Germany's DAX slipped 0.2% to 25,067.1, and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.2% to 8,339.0.
