HONG KONG — World shares mostly fell and oil gained again on Friday after Wall Street had its worst day since the start of the Iran war over growing doubts about a de-escalation.
In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.3% to 9,939.96. France's CAC 40 dropped 0.7% to 7,718.97, and Germany's DAX lost 1.3% to 22,314.28.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.4% lower at 53,373.07. South Korea’s Kospi also lost 0.4% to 5,438.87, narrowing the sharp drop earlier in the day at trading close.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.4% to 24,951.88 after dipping earlier in the day, while the Shanghai Composite index traded 0.6% higher at 3,913.72.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1% to 8,516.30.
Taiwan’s Taiex was 0.7% lower, while India's Sensex lost 2.1%.
On Thursday, Wall Street fell to its worst drop since the Iran war began, with the S&P 500 sinking 1.7% for its worst day since January to 6,477.16. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1% to 45,960.11. The Nasdaq composite slumped 2.4% to 21,408.08, and is off 10% below its recent all-time high in what is considered a "correction."
Expectations this week of de-escalation negotiations between Washington and Tehran have sent markets into disarray.
Shortly after Wall Street trading closed Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was postponing a threatened attack on Iran's energy facilities as he further delayed until April 6 a deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for oil and gas transport.
U.S. futures were mostly unchanged on Friday.
Oil prices gained in early Friday trading. Brent crude futures, the international standard, was 1.6% higher at $103.51 per barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 1.7% to $96.12 a barrel.
“Oil prices steadied after U.S. President Donald Trump again pushed back the deadline for striking Iran’s energy,” wrote ING Bank analysts Ewa Manthey and Warren Patterson in a research note on Friday. “(But) the scale of supply at risk remains significant.”
Doubts over a possible end to the war grew after Iran rejected a U.S. ceasefire proposal and issued a counterproposal, while the U.S. was sending more troops to the region. The war, now in its fourth week, is likely to fuel global inflation and impact economic growth of many countries amid rising energy costs and trade disruptions.
The Strait of Hormuz has been largely closed since the start of the Iran war, although Iran has said the strait is only closed to its enemies. It appears recently to have set up a "toll booth" for vessels transiting the strait, with Lloyd's List Intelligence reporting that some ships are paying for passage in China's yuan currency.
In other dealings early Friday, gold and silver prices rose. Gold’s price was up 1.2% to $4,430.20 per ounce. The price of silver was 1.7% higher to $69.08.
The U.S. dollar rose slightly to 159.82 Japanese yen from 159.81 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1524, down from $1.1527.