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Asia-Pacific markets were set to open mostly lower on Friday as investors remained cautious despite a three-week extension of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, underscoring geopolitical uncertainty.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend their ceasefire by three weeks after meeting with top US officials at the White House.
“The meeting was great!” Trump said in a satya social post Announcement of extension of temporary ceasefire.
The temporary ceasefire, which was originally scheduled to expire after 10 days, will now provide additional time for diplomatic efforts, with Washington also pledging to work with Lebanon to strengthen its defenses against Hezbollah.
US oil futures rose about 1.23% to about $97.03 a barrel.
from japan Nikkei 225 Heading lower, the Chicago futures contract was trading at 58,965 and its Osaka counterpart at 58,880, while the index’s previous close was 59,140.23.
hong kong Hang Seng Index The futures were at 25,802, lower than the index’s last close of 25,915.2.
In Australia, futures last traded at 8,828, which is higher than S&P/ASX 200Is close to 8,793.4.
US stocks fell overnight Thursday, led by a decline in software stocks and higher oil prices, as investor uncertainty about the trajectory of the Iran war weighed on markets.
The S&P 500 closed down 0.41% at 7,108.40, having earlier hit a new all-time intraday high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.89% to 24,438.50. It also set a new all-time highest score in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 179.71 points, or 0.36%, to 49,310.32.
