Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Friday, as investors remained cautious despite an extension of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to prolong their ceasefire by three weeks following discussions at the White House with senior U.S. officials.
“The Meeting went very well!” Trump said in a Truth Social post announcing the extension of the temporary truce.
The ceasefire, initially due to expire after 10 days, will now allow more time for diplomatic negotiations. Washington has also pledged to support Lebanon in strengthening its defences against Hezbollah.
However, the extension failed to fully reassure investors, with regional markets showing a mixed performance by late morning trade.
By 11:10 am AEST (1:10 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 had fallen 0.3%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged 0.4% higher, while South Korea’s KOSPI 200 slipped 0.3%.
In Japan, fresh inflation data drew attention as core consumer prices accelerated for the first time in five months, rising to 1.8% in March.
The increase, driven in part by higher energy costs linked to the Iran conflict, matched expectations and marked an uptick from February’s 1.6%.
Headline inflation rose to 1.5% from 1.3%, remaining below the Bank of Japan’s 2% target for a second consecutive month.
Meanwhile, the “core-core” measure, which excludes both food and energy prices, eased to 2.4% from 2.5%, its lowest level since October 2024.
The inflation data comes ahead of the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting scheduled for 27-28 April, where the central bank is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at 0.75%.
Overnight on Wall Street, major U.S. benchmarks closed lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both declined 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.9%.
In commodity markets, Brent crude rose 3.1% to settle at $105.07 per barrel, reflecting concerns over supply disruptions. In contrast, spot gold fell 1% to $4,692.44 per ounce.
Elsewhere in the region, Chinese equities ended lower on Thursday, with the Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.3% to 4,093.3 and the CSI 300 also declining 0.3% to 4,786.3.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1% to 25,915.2, while India’s BSE Sensex declined 1.1% to 77,664.0.
European markets delivered a mixed close. The UK’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.2% to 10,457.0, Germany’s DAX also fell 0.2% to 24,155.5, while France’s CAC 40 outperformed, rising 0.9% to 8,227.3.
