By Ronnie Harui
Asian equity markets were mostly lower early Friday as skepticism over a near-term end to the Middle East conflict reduced investor appetite for risky assets.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was down 1.0%, South Korea's Kospi was off 2.7%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index was 0.5% lower.
The Pentagon is considering sending up to 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East to give President Trump more military options, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Department of Defense officials with knowledge of the planning. This force would be added to around 5,000 Marines and the thousands of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division who have already been ordered to the Middle East.
The move came even as Trump said Thursday that he had extended a pause on U.S. military strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure for 10 days at the request of Iranians who sought additional time to allow peace talks to move forward. The Wall Street Journal reported, citing peace talk mediators, that Iran hasn't requested the 10-day pause and has yet to submit its final response to the U.S.' 15-point plan to end the war.
Doubts about de-escalation in the Middle East conflict have lingered, said two FX strategists at OCBC Group Research in a research report. "The broader growth drag from higher oil and the associated risk-off tone is now dominating," the strategists added.
Risk-sensitive and energy-importing currencies were mixed on Friday. The dollar edged 0.2% lower to 159.55 yen and was little changed at 1,507.60 Korean won, but was 0.35% higher at 60.369 Philippine peso, LSEG data showed.
Meanwhile, front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures declined 1.2% to $93.33 per barrel and front-month Brent crude oil futures fell 1.2% to $106.68 a barrel, according to ICE data.
Write to Ronnie Harui at ronnie.harui@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 26, 2026 21:50 ET (01:50 GMT)
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