Korea's Kospi, Japan's Topix Lead Asian Market Gains

Brent edged up 0.5% to $110 a barrel as Trump intensified threats to strike Iranian infrastructure ahead of his Tuesday 8 p.m. Eastern Time deadline.

Futures contracts for the S&P 500 Index dipped 0.2% in early trading, after the underlying gauge posted a modest gain in a volatile session on Monday. Asian shares rose 0.6% at the open, with South Korean stocks jumping almost 2%. Samsung Electronics Co. climbed 1% after profit surged eight-fold, showing robust demand for memory chips.

Trump said talks with Iran are "going well" ahead of the Tuesday night deadline to agree to a deal, even as he insisted that freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz must be part of any accord. If Iran doesn't agree to the US's terms, the military may destroy "every bridge in Iran by 12 o'clock tomorrow night" and put every power plant "out of business," Trump warned Monday.

 Iran reportedly passed to mediator Pakistan a rejection of a ceasefire proposal. It demanded a permanent end to the war, lifting of sanctions, and reconstruction efforts, in addition to protocol for safe passage through Hormuz, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

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"It's clearly too early for market watchers to stop thinking about geopolitical risk," said Jeff Buchbinder at LPL Financial. "For now, we believe the best course of action for investors is to be patient."

While traders kept a close eye on geopolitical developments, they awaited this week's key inflation readings. Data published Monday showed the US service economy expanded in March at a slower pace as employment shrank by the most since 2023 and input prices accelerated.

The mixed economic signals illustrate the uncertain time for most businesses, according to Jeff Roach at LPL Financial.

"A prolonged struggle over the Strait of Hormuz into May and June would markedly darken the outlook for the US and the global economy," he said. "For now, given last Friday's payroll numbers, Fed policymakers have the luxury of remaining in 'wait and see' mode." 

While investors have been fixated on geopolitical risks, the macro data continues to point to a resilient economy and a still-constructive earnings outlook, according to Mark Hackett at Nationwide.

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Systematic investors are poised to flip back into equity-buying mode after slashing their exposure to multi-year lows during the recent market selloff, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s trading desk.

"We believe the S&P 500 is carving out a low and think it makes sense to start adding length in cyclical and quality growth trades where earnings remain strong, valuation has compressed, and sentiment is negative," said Michael Wilson at Morgan Stanley.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% as of 9:10 a.m. Tokyo time

Japan's Topix rose 0.9%

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.6%

Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.7%

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed

The euro was little changed at $1.1540

The Japanese yen was little changed at 159.73 per dollar

The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.8774 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin fell 1.3% to $68,939.49

Ether fell 1.6% to $2,114.72

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.34%

Japan's 10-year yield advanced 4.5 basis points to 2.425%

Australia's 10-year yield declined four basis points to 5.00%

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1% to $113.55 a barrel

Spot gold was little changed