Japan’s Nikkei ends flat in choppy trade as Middle East war weighs

TOKYO: The Nikkei share average ended flat in choppy trade on Tuesday, as investors balanced optimism over a potential Middle East ceasefire and unease over U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to escalate strikes on Iran if it fails to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Japanese economy is particularly vulnerable to the conflict’s impact on shipments and prices, as the country relies on the Middle East for around 90% of its oil.

Nikkei swung between gains and losses before closing 0.03% higher at 53,429.56. The broader Topix also struggled for direction, ending 0.3% higher at 3,654.02.

Responding to a U.S. proposal through mediator Pakistan, Tehran rejected a ceasefire and said a permanent end to the war was necessary, and pushed back against pressure to reopen the strait.

It followed increasingly bellicose ultimatums from Trump, who has threatened to rain “hell” on Tehran if it fails to comply with his deadline of 8 p.m. EDT Tuesday (0000 GMT Wednesday) to reopen the strait, through which about a fifth of global oil supply is normally shipped.

“President Trump appears to be increasingly speaking in a reactive or ad hoc manner, and his messaging has become less consistent. As a result, markets no longer seem to be parsing every remark with the same degree of sensitivity they once did,” said Hitoshi Asaoka, chief strategist at Asset Management One.

“While he continues to reference specific timelines or deadlines, investors appear to be placing less credibility on those dates than they did previously.”

There were 142 advancers on the Nikkei index and 81 decliners.

Among individual stocks, software testing company SHIFT was the best percentage gainer with a 4.3% rise. TDK , an electronic components maker, gained 2.8%.

Meanwhile, truckmaker Archion lost 7.2% to be the biggest laggard on the Nikkei index, followed by Disco, a precision cutting tools supplier for semiconductors, which declined 6.2%.