Nikkei, Kospi Fall In Early Asian Trade As Oil Spikes Over US-Iran Tensions

Asian stock markets cracked on Thursday, tracking overnight losses in key US benchmarks as oil prices extended gains amid no signs of a US-Iran breakthrough, while the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady. The MSCI Asia Pacific index slipped 0.6%. Japanese shares declined as trading resumed after a holiday. The benchmark Nikkei 225 shed1.3%, while the broader Topix fell 1.7%. South Korea’s Kospi swung between gains and losses. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures last traded at 25,882, compared with the index’s Wednesday close of 26,111.84. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.43%. The dollar hovered near its highest in…