Asian markets opened mixed on Friday, as Japan’s Nikkei 225 index plummeted nearly 2,000 points to around 53,372.53 levels, while markets in India and South Korea gained.
The contrast underlined that the US-Iran war is not affecting every Asian market equally.
The developments came as the oil prices eased further after the US administration signaled that the sanctions on Iranian crude stored aboard tankers can be lifted.
The oil prices saw some sharp volatility yesterday after Iranian strikes on Qatar’s main LNG facility.
Japan reels as oil shock bites
Japan took the brunt of the early selling, with the Nikkei tumbling nearly 2,000 points in morning trade.
The heavy selling came after the Bank of Japan’s decision to hold rates on Thursday. The central bank warned about keeping a close eye on inflation amid rising oil shocks.
That anxiety is especially acute in Tokyo because Japan depends on the Middle East for about 95% of its oil imports.
Moreover, 70% of Japan’s energy flows pass through the critical Strait of Hormuz. That leaves Japanese equities unusually exposed to every move in crude.
Seoul and Mumbai resist the drag
South Korea’s Kospi and India’s Sensex moved higher in early trade, suggesting investors still see buffers in those markets even as the regional backdrop remains tense.
In Seoul, part of that resilience comes from domestic reform momentum. The index was trading 0.62% up on Friday at around 5,798.96 levels.
The Kospi had already surged more than 5% earlier this week after President Lee Jae Myung renewed his push for capital-market reforms.
The proposed reforms are aimed at reducing the “Korea discount” and building what he called a “Korea premium.”
India’s Sensex jumped more than 800 points and is trading around 75,020.84 at press time on Friday.
The overall mood was clearly positive too, as around 1,846 stocks advanced, compared to just 446 declines, while 123 remained unchanged.
Among the big winners were Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Tata Steel, SBI, and HCL Technologies.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.65%, losing about 167 points to trade at 25,333.
Meanwhile, China’s SSE Composite was mostly flat, edging up just 0.16%, a modest gain of around 7 points.
Oil diplomacy
Hovering over Friday’s trade was the possibility of a broader policy shift from Washington.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration could soon lift sanctions on roughly 140 million barrels of Iranian oil “on the water.”
That matters because the White House has already shown it is willing to use oil diplomacy as a market stabilizer.
Earlier this month, the administration moved to support tanker traffic through the Gulf with insurance and financial backing and eased sanctions on Russian oil.
For Asian equities, that keeps the next move in oil policy front and center.
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