Currency dealers monitor exchange rates as an electronic screen (top) shows South Korea’s benchmark stock index (KOSPI) in a foreign exchange dealing room at the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on March 13, 2026.
Jung Yeon-je | Afp | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were set to open higher Monday, as investors continue to keep a cautious eye on developments in the Middle East amid renewed tensions between Iran and the U.S.
President Donald Trump said Sunday that a U.S Navy guided missile destroyer had fired on and disabled an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman before Marines boarded and seized the vessel.
The seizure is an escalation of the blockade and comes after Iran fired upon commercial vessels attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz earlier Sunday. The strait is between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
Since last week, the U.S. has been operating a naval blockade of ships entering and exiting Iranian ports. Iran views the ongoing blockade as a breach of the ceasefire reached by the U.S. and Iran, and cites this as one of its reasons for calling off the expected negotiations on Monday in Islamabad.
Trump warned on Sunday he would “knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran” if Tehran did not agree to Washington’s terms to end the conflict.
West Texas Intermediate futures surged 7.98% to $90.53 per barrel as of 7:39 p.m. ET. Brent crude rose 6.87% higher to $96.59 per barrel.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was poised to gain, with the Chicago contract at 59,015 and its Osaka counterpart last trading at 59,690, compared with the index’s previous close of 58,475.90.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 26,502, higher than the index’s last close of 26,160.33.
In Australia, futures last traded at 9,056, above the S&P/ASX 200‘s last close of 8,946.90.
Overnight on Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures shed 425 points, or 0.9%. S&P 500 futures lost 0.8%, while Nasdaq-100 futures fell 0.65%.
During Friday’s regular session, the S&P 500 jumped 1.2% to close at 7,126.06, crossing the 7,100 threshold for the first time. The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.52% and settled at 24,468.48 for its 13th consecutive winning day and its longest positive streak since 1992. Both indexes posted fresh intraday and closing records.
— CNBC’s Fred Imbert, Sean Conlon, Lisa Kailai Han and Garrett Downs contributed to this report.
