Asia-Pacific markets fell Thursday as tensions in the Middle East escalated after fresh U.S. strikes in Iran overnight.
A U.S. official told MS NOW on Wednesday that American forces had carried out new strikes targeting a military site believed to threaten U.S. troops and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Kuwait activated its air defenses Thursday in response to what it described as "hostile missile and drone threats," according to a post by the country's armed forces on X.
In a statement carried by Iran's state-affiliated Tasnim news agency, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it struck a U.S. air base after a U.S. attack near Bandar Abbas airport.
West Texas Intermediate futures for July were 2.55% higher at $90.94 per barrel as of 3:35 a.m. ET. Brent crude futures for July rose 2.57% to $96.69 per barrel.
Major Asian indexes pared losses. South Korea's Kospi ended Thursday's session at 0.53% lower at 8,185.29, while the small-cap Kosdaq dropped 2.54% to 1,104.36.
Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.47% at 64,693.12, while the Topix declined 0.41% at 3,902.01. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was 1.43% lower at 8,592.90 .
China's CSI 300 gave up early losses to gain 0.12% at 4,914.21, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1.38% in the last hour of afternoon trade.
India's Nifty 50 was flat, while the BSE Sensex was down 0.19%.
S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures both rose less than 0.1%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 49 points, or 0.1%.
During Wednesday's regular session, the S&P 500 ticked 0.02% higher to 7,520.36, another closing record. The 30-stock Dow gained 182.60 points, or 0.36%, for a record close of 50,644.28. The Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.07% to end at 26,674.73.
— CNBC's Lim Hui Jie, Lisa Kailai Han and Spencer Kimball contributed to this report.
