Most Asian stock markets ended lower on Thursday, while oil prices edged down despite continued military exchanges between the United States and Iran. U.S. stock futures, however, moved slightly higher.
Technology and artificial intelligence (AI)-related shares came under pressure, dragging down markets in South Korea and Japan.
South Korea's Kospi dropped 6.6% to 6,816.70 after the Bank of Korea raised interest rates for the first time since 2023. The move was aimed at easing inflationary pressure linked to the Iran conflict.
Among major South Korean stocks, memory chipmaker SK Hynix fell 11.2%, while Samsung Electronics lost 8.2%.
Taiwan's Taiex slipped 0.3% ahead of the quarterly earnings report of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), whose results are widely viewed as an indicator of the global semiconductor industry and AI demand.
Japan's Nikkei 225 declined 2.9% to 66,767.64. Memory chip producer Kioxia plunged 13.5%, while chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron fell 5.2% and testing equipment manufacturer Advantest dropped 5.6%. SoftBank Group also lost 6.4%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index stood out among regional markets, rising 1.7% to 25,111.22. Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares jumped 4.4% after China's cyberspace regulator approved Apple's Apple Intelligence AI service for use in China. Alibaba said its Qwen AI model will be integrated into the Apple Intelligence platform.
China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.9% to 3,921.20, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% to 8,820.50. India's Sensex gained 0.3%.
Oil prices eased slightly but remained well above levels seen before the outbreak of the US-Iran conflict.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 0.4% to $84.55 a barrel, compared with about $72 a barrel in late February before the conflict began. U.S. benchmark crude slipped 0.2% to $79.34 a barrel.
Analysts at ING said oil prices recorded a third straight day of gains before Thursday's slight decline, as there were still few signs of easing tensions between Washington and Tehran.
They also said the conflict was continuing to disrupt tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil shipments, affecting vessel movements from the Persian Gulf.
On Wall Street Wednesday, the S&P 500 gained 0.4% to close at 7,572.40. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% to 52,658.64, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.6% to 26,269.23.
SpaceX shares briefly fell below their initial public offering (IPO) price of $135 before recovering part of the losses.
Investor sentiment was also supported by data showing U.S. inflation slowed in June and stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings from BlackRock. Shares of the investment firm climbed 6.6% after it reported better-than-expected revenue and profit.
In early currency trading Thursday, the U.S. dollar slipped to 162.09 Japanese yen from 162.19 yen, while the euro traded at $1.1467, little changed from $1.1464.