HONG KONG: Asian stocks were mostly lower and oil prices gained on Thursday as a de-escalation of the Iran war remained uncertain.
US futures were down 0.1 per cent.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was trading 0.3 per cent lower at 53,607.75. South Korea's Kospi lost 1.9 per cent to 5,537.30.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.4 per cent to 24,978.71, while the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.6 per cent to 3,909.16.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged down 0.2 per cent, while Taiwan's Taiex was trading 0.4 per cent higher.
Oil prices were up again on Thursday after an earlier dip. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1.3 per cent to USD 98.51 per barrel. It was below USD 95 on Wednesday. Benchmark US crude was 1.6 per cent higher at USD 91.75 a barrel.
The rise in oil prices came as Tehran on Wednesday dismissed a ceasefire plan by the US, after the administration of US President Donald Trump offered a 15-point proposal to Iran and Trump this week delayed a self-imposed deadline to “obliterate” its power plants in order to force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran also launched more attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries as Israel launched airstrikes on Tehran and the US prepared to deploy more American troops to the region.
With the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway between Iran and Oman where roughly a fifth of the world's oil typically passes through, remaining largely closed after the Iran war began, oil prices have fluctuated, climbing around 40 per cent since the beginning of the war, which is now in its fourth week.
On Wednesday, Wall Street stocks closed higher. The S&P 500 gained 0.5 per cent to 6,591.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.7 per cent to 46,429.49, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.8 per cent to 21,929.83.
US-listed shares of Arm Holdings jumped 16.4 per cent, following an announcement by the UK company that it would be launching and selling its own chips which is expected to drive future revenue.
On Holding, the Swiss sportswear company selling On running shoes, fell 11.2 per cent in the US. Its CEO Martin Hoffmann is stepping down and the company has named two co-founders as co-CEOs.
In other dealings early Thursday, gold and silver prices fell. Gold prices dropped 0.8 per cent to USD 4,513.90 per ounce. Silver prices lost 0.9 per cent to USD 71.97 an ounce.
The US dollar fell to 159.42 Japanese yen from 159.47 yen. The euro was trading at USD 1.1570, up from USD 1.1559.