Asia markets mixed as Iran conflict sends oil prices soaring

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Friday, tracking Wall Street losses overnight, as the Iran conflict sends energy prices higher.

Overnight, oil prices broke through the $80 per barrel mark, with Brent futures last trading at $84.17. U.S. West Texas Intermediate, which saw its biggest single day gain since May 2020, was last down 1.94% at $79.44.

More uncertainty was also seen on the global trade front after New York Attorney General Letitia James and the top prosecutors of 23 other states once again sued to block President Donald Trump’s global tariff regime.

This comes after the U.S. Court of International Trade had ruled Thursday that companies were entitled to tariff refunds from Trump’s duties that were struck down by the Supreme Court.

South Korea’s Kospi tumbled once again, falling 1%, after marking its best day since 2008 in the prior session. The small-cap Kosdaq, however, extended gains to rise 1.52%. Kosdaq 150 futures spiked 6%, triggering a buy trading curb for five minutes.

Defense heavyweight LIG Nex1 was up more than 15%, and was one of the top Kospi gainers, after South Korean media reported its air defense systems were used to successfully intercept Iranian missiles launched at the United Arab Emirates.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.24%, reversing earlier losses, while the Topix was marginally down.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 1.06%, dragged by basic materials stocks.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 1.14%, extending gains from Thursday, while the mainland Chinese CSI 300 was down 0.4%.

Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes fell, with the stock sell-off led by Boeing, Caterpillar and other names that stand to lose the most if the global economy slows.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.61%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.56%. The tech heavy Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.26%.

—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.