Global markets received a jolt in early Asia hours after President Donald Trump called for the , in comments that contrasted with earlier optimism that Israel’s war against Iran wouldn’t escalate into a wider conflict.
US futures fell 0.6% and oil climbed almost 2% following Trump’s comments in a social media post from a Group of Seven leaders’ summit in Alberta. It wasn’t clear what he was referring to but hours earlier, Trump had said Iran wanted to make a deal. Oil had earlier dropped on signs that the conflict in the Middle East may avoid disrupting crude production.
A gauge of Asian stocks slipped, though Japanese and South Korean shares were marginally higher, after risk-on sentiment returned to Wall Street on Monday and pushed the S&P 500 up about 1% and back above 6,000.
There were mixed signs that investors will keep faith in the US economy, as longer-maturity Treasuries continued to lag the market even after a $13 billion sale of 20-year bonds drew the expected yield level — a notable improvement from last month’s auction disappointment that spurred a broad selloff. The dollar was little changed.
Trump earlier said Iran wants to talk about de-escalating the conflict with Israel even as the two sides exchanged fire for the fourth consecutive day. Asked if the US would get more involved militarily, the US leader said he didn’t want to discuss it. However, he is cutting short his visit to the G-7, according to the White House, and returning to Washington.
Tehran is signaling it wants to de-escalate hostilities with Israel and is willing to resume nuclear talks with the US as long as Washington doesn’t join the Israeli attacks, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday citing Middle Eastern and European officials it didn’t identify. A similar report by Reuters says Iran conveyed the message through Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman.