Asian Tech Stocks Retreat as Oil Dips on U.S.-Iran Optimism

Asian markets wavered on Tuesday, with technology stocks leading losses as investors tracked easing oil prices and cautious optimism over a potential US-Iran deal.

South Korea’s KOSPI slid by more than 3%. (Photo: Yonhap News Agency)

South Korea’s KOSPI slid by more than 3% as technology stocks retreated, tracking an overnight slump on Wall Street, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Energy markets drew attention after US President Donald Trump signaled “serious negotiations” with Tehran and called off planned strikes, boosting optimism that tensions could ease.

The war launched by the United States and Israel on February 28 reportedly led to an effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of global oil exports passed in peacetime.

The leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates asked Trump “to hold off on our planned military attack of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was scheduled for tomorrow, in that serious negotiations are now taking place,” the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform on Monday.

Trump added that he had instructed the US military to be “prepared to go forward with a full, large-scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable deal is not reached.”