Asian stock markets opened mixed on Thursday after Iran accused the US of violating the terms of the two-week ceasefire agreement reached a day before.
MSCI's Asia Pacific equity gauge fell 0.4% after Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said three clauses of the ceasefire proposal have been contravened so far. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was marginally higher at 0.12%, while the broader Topix gained 0.26%.
South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.6% while the small-cap Kosdaq was flat. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was 0.24% lower. Hang Seng futures traded at 25,851.5 compared to the close of 25,893 on Wednesday.
Weighing on sentiment was Brent crude, which rose 2.5% to $97.12 a barrel — rebounding from its worst plunge in more than six years. The West Texas Intermediate futures for May rose by 2.3% to $96.63 per barrel.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.1%. Overnight on Wall Street, stocks surged after US President Donald Trump suspended attacks on Iran for two weeks, pausing a five-week conflict that closed a crucial waterway for global energy supplies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1,325.46 points higher, or 2.85%, to 47,909.9, the benchmark's best day since April 2025. The S&P 500 popped 2.51% and the Nasdaq Composite surged 2.8%.
Uncertainty Over Truce
Early Wednesday, Trump announced a "double sided" ceasefire after a Pakistan-brokered arrangement with Tehran. The ceasefire was contingent on Iran agreeing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran had said that it would stop "defensive" operations if attacks on the country were halted. Israel has also agreed to the ceasefire, media reports said.
Equities across the world jumped after the agreement and oil prices dipped below the $100 mark.
Late Wednesday, Ghalibaf subsequently accused Washington of breaching terms of the ceasefire deal. The violations are the denial of the Islamic Republic's right to enrich uranium and Israel's continued attacks on Lebanon, a drone's entry into Iranian airspace, he said.
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