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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Market Analysis
May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.