TOKYO, April 23, 2026, 17:34 JST
Asian equities pulled back from all-time peaks on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei, which briefly topped 60,000 for the first time, slipped as oil surged past $100 a barrel and traders assessed renewed turmoil in the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude advanced roughly 1.4% to $103.3 per barrel. MSCI’s broad Asia-Pacific index, excluding Japan, shed 0.5% after reaching a new high.
The retreat is notable, with the region’s gains fueled by both robust AI-related earnings and optimism that a U.S.-Iran ceasefire might hold. Wall Street saw fresh highs, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq notching record closes thanks to upbeat corporate numbers. But as trading shifted to Asia, U.S. futures slipped—the focus pivoted right back to energy risk.
The Nikkei in Japan slipped 0.75% to close at 59,140.23, backing off after an earlier high of 60,013.98. The Topix shed 0.76%. Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gave up 1.1%, with China’s CSI300 down 0.8%—fresh evidence that the rebound remains choppy.
South Korea’s economy expanded 1.7% in the first quarter—handily beating expectations—driven by a 5.1% climb in exports fueled by demand for semiconductors. SK Hynix saw quarterly profit surge fivefold and noted its orders for high-bandwidth memory chips, key for AI servers, have already surpassed what it can produce. Earlier, the Kospi touched a new high.
“Markets look very on edge,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo. That sense of fragility was hard to miss in Asia: stocks slipped and oil jumped after unconfirmed social-media chatter about another strike on Iran, but those moves reversed not long after, investingLive noted. Reuters
In Tokyo, Hiroyuki Ueno at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management pointed out the Strait of Hormuz was “not completely open,” keeping oil prices elevated and capping further upside for the Nikkei, which has been fueled mostly by AI-linked stocks like SoftBank Group and Advantest. Meanwhile, Masahiro Ichikawa of Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management noted that weakness in U.S. futures spurred investors to lock in gains. Reuters
Overnight, sentiment had seemed positive: the S&P 500 added 1.05%, Nasdaq pushed up 1.64%. First-quarter earnings growth is coming in near 14% by LSEG’s count, with tech out front again. Still, the Asia session made it clear—solid earnings aren’t enough to quiet geopolitical worries.
European shares followed suit as the session wore on. The STOXX 600 edged down 0.2%. Germany’s DAX lost the same, while London’s FTSE 100 dropped by 0.5%. Energy stocks stood out, though—rising crude prices gave that sector a boost.
Investors face a real risk that the ceasefire could prove fleeting. President Donald Trump announced this week that the U.S. would continue the truce while waiting for a proposal from Iran, but Tehran hasn’t formally backed any extension. With the Strait of Hormuz accounting for around 20% of the world’s oil flows, the stakes are high. HSBC downgraded Indian stocks to “underweight” on Thursday, warning that pricier crude might trigger earnings cuts and diminish India’s appeal compared to Northeast Asia. Reuters
“The list of risks is growing as resolutions remain elusive,” said Laura Cooper, global investment strategist at Nuveen. Still, traders are sticking with AI plays for now. Each shift in oil, every headline out of Hormuz—these keep pressure on just how much risk investors are willing to hold between sessions. Reuters
