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A screen displays share prices inside the Kabuto One building in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, April 13, 2026. Oil surged and stocks fell after President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, escalating tensions with Iran following the collapse of weekend peace talks. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Asia-Pacific markets were set to open higher Friday as investors assess U.S.-Iran diplomatic efforts at reaching a peace deal in the Middle East.
While oil prices fell in U.S. trading on hopes of a deal, reports that Tehran intends to keep its enriched uranium stockpile within the country stand to complicate negotiations with Washington as President Donald Trump has made dismantling Iran's nuclear program a central objective of his military action against Tehran.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was poised to rise, with the Chicago futures contract at 62,225 and the Osaka counterpart last trading at 62,210 compared with the index's previous close of 61,684.14.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures were last at 25,568, higher than the index's last close of 25,386.52.
In Australia, futures last traded at 8,681, higher than the S&P/ASX 200's last close of 8,621.7.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to a record close. The blue-chip index gained 276.31 points, or 0.55%, for a closing record of 50,285.66. The S&P 500 advanced 0.17% to 7,445.72, while the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.09% to end at 26,293.10.
— CNBC's Sean Conlon, Sarah Min and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report
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