Nikkei 225, Kospi, Hang Seng Index
A currency trader monitors exchange rates in a dealing room at the Korea Exchange Bank in Seoul
Jung Yeon-je | Afp | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Thursday after Iran signaled it had no intention of holding direct talks with the United States, even as Tehran reviews an American proposal to end the war, according to the Islamic Republic’s foreign minister.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that an exchange of messages between the two countries through mediators “does not mean negotiations with the U.S.,” Reuters reported.
Earlier Wednesday, Iranian state media reported that the country would reject a U.S. ceasefire offer and had outlined its own conditions for ending the war.
Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie Group, said that a ceasefire is not imminent.
“Rather, an intensification of military action by the U.S. as it tries to nudge Iran toward making important concessions is likely over the next two weeks, before major combat operations succeed, perhaps in mid-April,” said Wizman.
“The War may now enter its third phase of ‘talk and fight,’ rather than talk only, or fight only,” he wrote in a note.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was flat in early trade.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.28%, while the Topix rose 0.43%. South Korea’s Kospi slid 1.55% and the small-cap Kosdaq was little changed.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 25,268 compared with the index’s last close of 25,335.95.
Oil prices were stable during Asia trading hours. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 0.72% at $91 per barrel.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 305.43 points, or 0.66%, and closed at 46,429.49. The S&P 500 rose 0.54% to 6,591.90, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.77% to end at 21,929.83.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report.
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