Asian Stocks Mostly Lower as Market Eyes Middle East Developments

(CNA Hong Kong, 18th, Comprehensive Foreign Report) As the market continues to watch developments in the Middle East, such as the stalled negotiations between the United States and Iran, Asian stock markets mostly closed lower today, continuing their recent downward trend. International oil prices continued to rise. According to AFP, the U.S. and Iran reached a ceasefire agreement in April, but negotiations have stalled, and sporadic attacks are still being reported in the Middle East. U.S. President Donald Trump yesterday issued another warning to Iran, stating that if Tehran does not reach a peace agreement soon, "they will have nothing." In peacetime, about one-fifth of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) transport must pass through the Strait of Hormuz. After the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, this energy chokepoint has been effectively closed, causing significant disruption to global shipping. Looking at Asian stocks, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, Sydney, Wellington, and Manila markets all closed in the red. The Seoul stock market, buoyed by recent gains in artificial intelligence (AI) concept stocks, closed slightly higher today. Michael Wan, an analyst at Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), stated today that the Strait of Hormuz has been "basically closed for nearly 11 weeks, and after Trump's bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, no progress has been made on reopening this channel." Analysts said investors are closely watching the meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers and central bank governors later today in Paris, where the sell-off in government bonds is expected to be a focus of discussion. The market is also anticipating the quarterly report from U.S. chip giant NVIDIA on the 20th, trying to see if NVIDIA's huge spending on AI data centers can yield a reasonable return. (Translation: Hung Chi-yuan) 1150518