{"id":84613,"date":"2026-03-26T22:24:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T11:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/?p=84613"},"modified":"2026-04-07T17:22:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T07:22:31","slug":"thursday-26th-march-2026-asia-pacific-markets-mixed-as-iran-rejects-direct-u-s-talks-ceasefire-uncertainty-persists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/thursday-26th-march-2026-asia-pacific-markets-mixed-as-iran-rejects-direct-u-s-talks-ceasefire-uncertainty-persists\/","title":{"rendered":"Thursday 26th March 2026: Asia-Pacific Markets Mixed as Iran Rejects Direct U.S. Talks, Ceasefire Uncertainty Persists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3>Global Markets:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>&nbsp;Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.35%, Shanghai Composite down 0.58% Hang Seng down 1.45% ASX down 0.17%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Commodities : Gold at $4,540.50 (-1.00%) Silver at $71.805 (-1.14%), Brent Oil at $98.48 (1.27%), WTI Oil at $91.74 (1.55%)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rates : US 10-year yield at 4.355, UK 10-year yield at 4.8360, Germany 10-year yield at 2.9535<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>News &amp; Data:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>(USD) Current Account&nbsp; -191B&nbsp; to -211B&nbsp; expected<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>Markets Update:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h3>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Thursday after Iran signaled it had no intention of holding direct talks with the United States, even as Tehran reviewed a U.S. proposal aimed at ending the war, according to the country\u2019s foreign minister. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi clarified that the exchange of messages through mediators \u201cdoes not mean negotiations with the U.S.,\u201d emphasizing that communication channels remain indirect. Earlier on Wednesday, Iranian state media reported that Tehran would reject Washington\u2019s ceasefire offer and instead presented its own conditions for ending the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie Group, said a ceasefire does not appear imminent. He suggested that military pressure from the U.S. could intensify over the next two weeks as Washington seeks concessions from Tehran, with significant developments possibly emerging by mid-April. Wizman added that the conflict may now enter a third phase characterized by simultaneous diplomatic engagement and continued military activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regional markets reflected cautious sentiment. Australia\u2019s S&amp;P\/ASX 200 was largely unchanged. Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225 rose 0.28% and the Topix gained 0.43%, while South Korea\u2019s Kospi declined 1.55% and the Kosdaq edged up 0.18%. Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng index slipped 0.52%, and China\u2019s CSI 300 opened flat. Oil prices remained stable, with WTI crude rising 0.72% to $91 per barrel. Overnight, U.S. markets closed higher across major indexes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Upcoming Events:<br \/><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>12:30 PM GMT &#8211; USD Unemployment Claims<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Global Markets: News &amp; Data: Markets Update: &nbsp; Asia-Pacific markets traded [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":84958,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[196,215,339],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84613"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84613"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84614,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84613\/revisions\/84614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}