Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Tuesday as oil prices eased slightly from elevated levels following news that United States President Donald Trump had postponed a planned military strike on Iran.
By 11:40 am AEST (1:40 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.8%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.1%, while South Korea’s KOSPI 200 fell 3.6%.
Among data releases, Japan’s economy delivered a stronger-than-expected performance in the first quarter of 2026, growing at an annualised 2.1%, supported by resilient consumption and robust export activity.
This compared with market expectations of 1.7%.
The data does not fully reflect the economic impact of the Iran war, which began at the end of February.
In Australia, the Westpac–Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index rose 3.5% to 83 in May from 80.1 in April.
Matthew Hassan, Head of Australian Macro-Forecasting, said: "Despite a small improvement, consumers remain deeply pessimistic. Some of last month’s shock from the spike in fuel prices has eased. The temporary halving in fuel excise tax has helped to reduce average pump prices by nearly 30¢/litre since April.
"However, this positive would have been largely offset by the RBA’s 25bp rate hike at the start of the month, the third interest rate rise in as many meetings.
"Meanwhile, the impact of the Federal budget looks to have been very mixed."
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) also released minutes from its May monetary policy meeting, revealing internal debate over the policy outlook.
The minutes showed that eight members saw the case for a rate hike as strongest, while one member preferred to wait for further data.
RBA policymakers “judged that, while it was still uncertain, financial conditions would probably be somewhat restrictive after this decision”, and “agreed that the decision would give the Board space to see how the conflict in the Middle East develops and Australian households and businesses respond.”
In the U.S. on Monday, major benchmarks finished mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.3%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.5%.
In commodities, ICE Brent crude rose 2.6% to US$112.10 per barrel, while spot gold gained 0.6% to US$4,566.83 per ounce.
Chinese equities were mixed, with the SSE Composite Index down 0.1% to 4,131.5 and the CSI 300 falling 0.5% to 4,833.5.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended 1.1% lower at 25,675.2, while India’s BSE Sensex edged up 0.1% to 75,315.0.
European markets closed higher on Monday, with the UK’s FTSE 100 rising 1.3% to 10,323.8, Germany’s DAX gaining 1.5% to 24,307.9, and France’s CAC 40 adding 0.4% to 7,987.5.
