Oil Rises and Wall Street Falls! Asian Stock Markets Dragged Down

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — Asian stock markets opened lower at the end of the week on Friday, the weekend trading session, following Wall Street. Market sentiment was influenced by the ongoing Iran conflict, which has pushed oil prices higher.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.87%, after logging its best day since 2008 in the previous session. However, the small-cap Kosdaq extended its gains to 2.45%.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined by 0.24%. The Topix experienced a larger drop, by 0.42%. Across the region, the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia fell 1.09% at the start of trading, dragged by shares of basic materials.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index futures stood at 25,037, lower than the last close of 25,321.34.

Citing CNBC International, oil prices surged to US$80 per barrel, with Brent futures up 3.54% and last traded at $84.31.

West Texas Intermediate crude rose the most in a day since May 2020, last down 2% at $79.38.

On the other hand, market sentiment also faces global trade uncertainties after New York Attorney General Letitia James and prosecutors in 23 other states returned to seek to block the global tariff regime of President Donald Trump.

This comes after the U.S. International Trade Court decided on Thursday that companies are entitled to tariff refunds from Trump tariffs cancelled by the Supreme Court.

Last night in the U.S., the three main indices fell, with selling led by Boeing, Caterpillar, and other stocks that would suffer the biggest losses if the global economy slows.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.61%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.56%. The Nasdaq Composite, which covers technology stocks, fell 0.26%.