Asia-Pacific Markets Pare Gains as Oil Rebounds on Iran War-Linked Uncertainty
24 March 2026
Today in Brief
Asia-Pacific markets pared gains as oil rebounded on Iran war-linked uncertainty.
Global markets, commodities, and geopolitical tensions continue to drive sharp swings across regions.
Asia Markets
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Asia-Pacific markets pare gains as oil rebounds on Iran war-linked uncertainty
Asia-Pacific markets pared gains Tuesday as oil prices rebounded, underscoring lingering uncertainty over the Middle East conflict. Brent crude futures for May rose over 3.5% to $103.7 per barrel while the West Texas Intermediate futures jumped 4% to $91.72 per barrel. The uptick follows a sharp sell-off on Monday, when Brent crude fell nearly 11% to around $99 per barrel after topping $112 on Friday.= "Despite the exuberance on Wall Street ... oil is well off its lows after Tehran denied conducting any weekend negotiations with Washington," said José Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers, who added that the risk of an extended war remains at the top of the mind for the market. South Korea's Kospi had surged over 3% before paring gains to 1.5%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was last up 1.7%.
U.S. Markets
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Dow surges 600 points in relief rally after Trump says U.S. and Iran have had 'productive' talks
Stocks rallied Monday after President Donald Trump said the U.S. and Iran have held talks and that he was halting strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure. The development gave investors hope that the Middle East conflict that spiked oil prices and raised fears of a global recession was nearing an end. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 631 points, or 1.38%, to close at 46,208.47. The S&P 500 rose 1.15%, and ended at 6,581.00, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.38% and settled at 21,946.76.
Commodities
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Gold fell toward $4,300 per ounce on Tuesday, staying under pressure amid heightened Middle East tensions
Gold fell toward $4,300 per ounce on Tuesday, staying under pressure amid heightened Middle East tensions as Iran denied holding talks with the US to end the conflict. Tehran dismissed President Donald Trump's announcement as an attempt to influence financial markets and launched new attacks on US targets, while Israel continued strikes against Iran. On Monday, gold had staged a sharp intraday rebound after Trump postponed planned US strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure and claimed negotiations were underway. The outcome of any talks and the potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz remain highly uncertain, keeping inflation risks elevated. Gold had dropped as much as 25% from its March peak as rising energy prices fuelled inflation concerns and bolstered expectations of interest rate hikes.
Energy
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WTI crude futures climbed above $91 per barrel on Tuesday, recovering some losses from the previous session
WTI crude futures climbed above $91 per barrel on Tuesday, recovering some losses from the previous session as Iran pushed back against President Donald Trump's claims, denying any talks to end the conflict. Tehran dismissed Trump's announcement as an attempt to influence financial markets and launched new attacks on US targets, while Israel continued strikes against Iran. On Monday, the US oil benchmark had plunged about 10% after Trump postponed planned strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure for five days and said productive talks were ongoing. The delay was seen as an effort to stabilize oil prices, with Trump noting they would "drop like a rock" once a deal is reached.
Economy
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Japan reports lower-than-expected core inflation for February, headline CPI eases for a fourth month
Japan's headline inflation rate eased for a fourth straight month in February as the economy cooled on stabilizing food prices, with subsidies shielding consumers from rising energy prices as the conflict in Middle East rage on. The consumer price index fell to 1.3% last month, according to data released by Japan's Statistics Bureau Tuesday. The CPI reading the lowest since March 2022 and below the central bank's 2% target, down from 1.5% in January. Core inflation rate, which strips out fresh food prices, moderated to 1.6% in February, missing Reuters-polled analysts' forecast for a 1.7% rise and compared with the 2% increase in January. The so-called "core-core" inflation, which excludes prices of fresh food and energy, came in at 2.5%, compared with 2.6% in January.
Defense
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Colombia military plane crash kills 66, four still missing
A Colombian military plane crashed in a takeoff disaster on Monday, killing 66 people as rescuers shuttled dozens of survivors to nearby hospitals and searched for four who were still missing, according to a top official. The Lockheed Martin-built Hercules C-130 transport plane was carrying 128 people, including 11 Air Force members, 115 army personnel and two national police officers, according to Hugo Alejandro Lopez, head of the nation's armed forces. The death toll was nearly double that of the previous figure given by authorities, who continued search and recovery efforts at the site of the deadly crash. The accident occurred as the plane was taking off from Puerto Leguizamo, on the border with Peru, Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said on X.
Energy Markets
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China sees long lines at the gas pump as Mideast turmoil hits
Panicked drivers lined up in long queues outside gas stations across China on Monday after receiving an alert from Chinese oil giant Sinopec about a pending price hike. The state refiner issued a notice Sunday that the price of gas will be set higher by a "meaningful" amount starting March 24. "As soon as I got the notice, I ran out to fill my tank," Zhou Ping, a Beijing resident, said while waiting in her car at a gas station downtown. Prices were tipped to go up to 2,205 yuan per metric ton — the equivalent of about $1 per gallon. Public panic prompted the country's state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, to cut the hike to 1,160 yuan per metric ton. For the average Chinese driver, the increase is still a significant expense. Gas in China currently costs about $4.50 per gallon.
Geopolitics
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Iran attacks in Strait of Hormuz are 'economic terrorism against every nation,' UAE oil CEO says
The United Arab Emirates on Monday condemned Iran's attacks against shipping in the Strait of Hormuz as a form of "economic terrorism" that is holding the world hostage. "Let me be absolutely clear, weaponizing the Strait of Hormuz is not an act of aggression against one nation," said Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). "It is economic terrorism against every nation, and no country should be allowed to hold Hormuz hostage — not now, not ever," Al Jaber told oil industry executives at S&P Global's CERAWeek conference in Houston, Texas. The Strait is the most important sea route for oil in the world. About 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies transited the narrow waterway to global markets before the war. Tanker traffic has ground to a halt due to Iran's attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf.
Corporate
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Estée Lauder is in talks to merge with Puig amid ongoing turnaround plan
Estée Lauder Companies said Monday that it is in talks with Spanish beauty group Puig to potentially merge the two companies. "No final decision has been made, and no agreement has been reached," Estée Lauder said in a statement. Shares of the U.S. beauty company were down nearly 8% following the news, which was first reported by the Financial Times. Puig's stock rose roughly 3%. Puig owns major beauty brands including Charlotte Tilbury, Jean Paul Gaultier and Rabanne. The companies did not disclose any financial details of the potential deal. Estée Lauder has been struggling amid ongoing headwinds from tariffs and its restructuring as it enacts its "Beauty Reimagined" turnaround plan to revitalize the business.
Finance
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Apollo gives investors only 45% of requested withdrawals from $15 billion private credit fund
Apollo, the asset management giant, told investors in its flagship private credit fund that it will limit withdrawals this quarter to just under half of requests, the latest sign of stress in the asset class. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Monday, Apollo Debt Solutions BDC said that it received redemption requests equal to 11.2% of shares outstanding in the first quarter, far exceeding the 5% quarterly cap the fund allows. Unlike some other private credit players, Apollo is sticking with the 5% cap, an industry standard that rivals including Blackstone have recently relaxed to satisfy investor demands for their funds.
Technology
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OpenAI calls out Microsoft reliance as risk in investor document ahead of expected IPO
In a document that resembles an IPO prospectus, OpenAI said its close ties with Microsoft could be a potential risk to its business, telling investors that the software company is responsible for "a substantial portion of our financing and compute." OpenAI included sections titled "Risks Related to the Transaction" and "Risks Related to our Business" in a financial document, viewed by CNBC, that the company shared with prospective investors tied to its recent record financing round. Last month, OpenAI announced $110 billion in funding from strategic partners including Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank. The company is working with banking partners to tack on an additional $10 billion worth of commitments from a broader pool of investors, according to sources familiar with the deal. That part of the round is on track to close by the end March, said the people, who asked not to be named because the details are confidential.
Technology
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Amazon says AWS' Bahrain region 'disrupted' following drone activity
Amazon said on Monday its Amazon Web Services region in Bahrain has been "disrupted" amid the current conflict in the Middle East. The disruption is due to drone activity in the area, an Amazon spokesperson said, following a Reuters inquiry. Reuters is first to report on the disruption. Amazon said it is helping to migrate customers to alternate AWS regions while it recovers, though it did not provide additional details such as the extent of the damage or how long it anticipates the disruption to last. "As this situation evolves and, as we have advised before, we request those with workloads in the affected regions continue to migrate to other locations," Amazon said in a statement Monday night. AWS is Amazon's cloud computing unit and critical for the operation of many well-known websites and government operations. It is also the company's main driver of profits.
