Asian Stocks Mixed Amid Iran War, Oil Prices Dip

Asian stock markets showed mixed results on Friday as investors navigated uncertainty from the ongoing war with Iran, which entered its seventh day amid Israeli airstrikes on the capitals of Iran and Lebanon. Oil prices declined more than 1 percent after reaching their highest levels since the summer of 2024, offering a brief respite from earlier surges driven by supply concerns.

U.S. stock futures pointed modestly higher at the open, with the contract for the S&P 500 up 0.2 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average contract rising 0.3 percent. The previous day, Wall Street closed lower, with the S&P 500 falling 0.6 percent to 6,830.71, the Dow dropping 1.6 percent to 47,954.74 and the Nasdaq composite declining 0.3 percent to 22,748.99.

In Asia, trading reflected the week's volatility. South Korea's Kospi index slipped 0.8 percent to 5,536.40 following a turbulent period that included a 12 percent plunge on Wednesday and a nearly 10 percent recovery on Thursday. The benchmark had surpassed 6,000 in recent weeks before the conflict began unsettling global markets. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 0.4 percent to 55,518.63, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged 1.6 percent to...