Asia-Pacific markets traded lower on Thursday, tracking Wall Street declines overnight as higher oil prices dented sentiment amid the prolonged conflict in the Middle East.
By 11:45 am AEST (1:45 am GMT), Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was trading 1.8% lower, Japan's Nikkei 225 had fallen 1.1%, while South Korea's KOSPI 200 was down 1.6%.
In the U.S. overnight, major benchmark averages declined. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8%, the S&P 500 declined 0.5%, and the Nasdaq lost 0.6%.
In commodities on Wednesday, ICE Brent jumped 3.4% to settle at US$101.21 a barrel, reaching its highest level since 23 July, while spot gold gained 1% to settle at US$4,440.87 an ounce.
In China on Wednesday, the SSE Composite Index ticked up 0.3% to 3,951.5, while the CSI 300 added 0.3% to 4,572.6.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.2% to 25,275.0, while India's BSE Sensex lost 1.1%, extending multi-month lows to close at 74,764.2.
European markets finished lower across the board on Wednesday. The UK's FTSE 100 fell 1.3% to 10,670.1, Germany's DAX declined 1.7% to 25,576.5, while France's CAC 40 fell 1.9% to 8,156.7.
