Asian stock markets are a sea of red on Friday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, amid renewed uncertainty and re-escalation of the Middle East conflict after Iran created a new agency to formalize its control over the Strait of Hormuz and reports of fresh clashes between the U.S. and Iran. This revived concerns of crude oil prices and global inflation. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.
The U.S. military said it "remained positioned and ready to protect American forces" after intercepting unprovoked Iranian attacks on three Navy ships. Iran's top joint military command said the U.S. targeted an Iranian oil tanker and another ship entering the strait.
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May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.