Asia Mostly Fall as Ceasefire Holds

Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell Friday, as cautious optimism over the Middle East conflict tempered sentiment, diverging from Wall Street’s record-setting rally.Japan’s Nikkei 225 erased 1,042.44 points, or 1.8%, to close Friday and the week at 58,475.90. Japan’s export credit agency, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, will set up an investment window of up to 600 billion yen ($3.8 billion U.S.) to help Asian countries secure energy supplies, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said.She added that oil market volatility is affecting foreign exchange markets.Investors are also digesting comments by Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda on Friday, who said the central bank must take Japan’s low real rates into account when setting policy.In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng turned downward 233.93 points, or 0.9%, to 26,160.33.Shares of Hangzhou-based developer Manycore Tech tripled on its Hong Kong Exchange debut, opening at HK$20.7 versus its offer price of HK$7.62, in a $156-million listing. It closed at HK$18.65.U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said that the war in Iran “should be ending pretty soon,” reiterating rosy predictions about the end of the conflict.Hours earlier, Trump confirmed that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day ceasefire, starting at 5 p.m. ET. Iran’s parliament speaker has said that Israel halting attacks on Lebanon is a key condition for U.S.-Iran negotiations to start.The next round of in-person talks between the U.S. and Iran may occur “probably, maybe, next weekend,” Trump said Thursday. A two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran will expire on April 21.West Texas Intermediate fell 1.27% to $93.49 per barrel as of 3:31 a.m. ET, while Brent crude declined 0.99% to $98.41 per barrel.In other markets The CSI 300 index in Shanghai eased back 7.94 points, or 0.2%, to 4,728.67. In Taiwan, the Taiex lost 327.68 points, or 0.9%, to 36,804.34South Korea’s Kospi backtracked 34.13 points, or 0.6%, to 6,191.92In Singapore, the Straits Times Index subtracted 9.9 points, or 0.2%, to 4,997.93.In Australia, the AZX 200 backed off 8.09 points, or 0.1%, to 8,946.93. In New Zealand, the NZX 50 docked 160.39 points, or 1.2%, to 12,905.67.