BENGALURU: Emerging Asian markets posted sharp declines on Friday as surging oil prices and sluggish US-Iran peace negotiations compounded fears surrounding inflation and economic stability.
MSCI’s emerging Asia equities gauge fell nearly 2 percent, dragged by a more than 6 percent slump in South Korea’s KOSPI.
The benchmark briefly crossed the 8,000 mark before reversing sharply on losses in major chipmakers, with Samsung Electronics down 8.6 percent and SK Hynix falling 7.7 percent.
Despite limited progress in US-Iran talks, hopes of a truce have lifted the regional benchmark nearly 20 percent since late March, when reports of a potential ceasefire first surfaced.
“We see today’s pressure more as markets digesting the strong recovery rally since April, rather than a decisive shift into broad risk-off,” said Song Zhe, senior Asia and global EM equities investment specialist at BNP Paribas Asset Management.
Investor focus remained on Beijing, where US President Donald Trump concluded his two-day state visit on Friday. Trump and China’s Xi Jinping have agreed that they oppose Iran acquiring nuclear weapons and “want the straits open”.
“There’s definitely some unease about the stalled peace talks between the US and Iran, especially concerning the impact on inflation and interest rates via higher energy prices,” said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.
Oil prices continued to rise on Friday, heading for a weekly gain of more than 5 percent after President Donald Trump said China wants to buy oil from the United States. Meanwhile, traffic through the critical Strait of Hormuz remained constrained.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s economy expanded faster than projected in the first quarter, supported by resilient domestic demand that helped cushion shocks stemming from the Middle East conflict.
Malaysia’s central bank slightly raised its 2026 growth forecast, although it expects headline inflation to accelerate this year.
Malaysian shares and the ringgit fell around 0.4 percent each.
The currency stands out as one of the best performers so far this year, with a year-to-date gain of nearly 3 percent, including a weekly advance of 0.7 percent.