World shares mostly lower and oil gains after Wall Street's worst day
since start of Iran war
[March 27, 2026] By
CHAN HO-HIM
HONG KONG (AP) — 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.
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 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.
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