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A man walks past a stock quotation board showing the Nikkei stock prices outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, June 16, 2026. REUTERS/Manami Yamada Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

  • Summary

  • Companies

  • MSCI's Asia-Pacific index outside Japan falls 0.69%, led by South Korea's 3.64% slide

  • Brent slips 0.18% to $79.31 a barrel as Iran deal developments stay in focus

  • CME FedWatch tool prices 54% chance of September Fed rate hike

TOKYO, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Asian shares took a ​breather on Thursday after an AI-driven surge the previous day, while oil prices traded in a tight range ‌as markets assessed prospects for an Iran peace deal.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MISX00000PUS), opens new tab fell 0.69%, led by declines in tech firms. South Korean shares (.KS11), opens new tab dropped 3.64% while Japan's Nikkei (.N225), opens new tab lost 1.57%.

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In Seoul, Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), opens new tab fell 2.44% and peer SK Hynix (000660.KS), opens new tab lost 6.95%. In Tokyo, Kioxia (285A.T), opens new tab plunged 9.61%, ​while Tokyo Electron (8035.T), opens new tab slumped 4.61%.

The pullback followed a weaker session on Wall Street overnight, where the Nasdaq (.IXIC), opens new tab snapped a days-long ​winning streak as shares of Elon Musk-led SpaceX (SPCX.O), opens new tab and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), opens new tab stumbled after their quarterly earnings.

Although ⁠the AI and satellite company highlighted faster-than-expected returns from its AI spending, investors remained concerned about how long its profitable Starlink business could ​continue to bankroll costly investments in data centres.

And while AMD's results beat analysts' estimates, they fell short of investors' lofty expectations.

A senior ​Iranian source and two regional officials told Reuters that a proposed deal between Iran and Oman to help end five months of war between Iran and the United States would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the biggest concessions yet to Iran.

​Oil prices were steady in the $70-a-barrel range. Brent crude futures LCOc1, opens new tab fell to $79.31 per barrel, down 0.18%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1, opens new tab ​edged 0.35% down to $74.96 a barrel.

Madison Cartwright, senior geo-economics analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz ‌could be ⁠reached by early September, though he remained sceptical that a deal was imminent.

"Iran still has more leverage and will extract additional concessions from the U.S. under any new deal," Cartwright said in a note.

Investors are now turning their attention to U.S. labour market data ahead of Friday's closely watched nonfarm payrolls report. ADP figures on Wednesday showed private employers added 44,000 workers last month, slowing from 95,000 ​in June and coming in about ​25,000 below expectations.

Economists polled ⁠by Reuters expect the government's report to show the U.S. economy added 80,000 jobs in July, after a 57,000 gain in June, with the unemployment rate forecast to hold steady at 4.2%.

Futures markets ​are pricing in about a 54% chance of a rate hike at the Federal Reserve's September ​meeting, down from ⁠58% a day ago, according to the CME's FedWatch tool.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 1.04 basis points to 4.607%.

Against the yen , the dollar was steady at 157.66 following a historic currency market intervention. Japan and the U.S. launched a rare joint yen-buying intervention last week ⁠and pledged ​further action if necessary to support the currency.

The dollar/yen pair is likely to ​struggle to find a clear direction, with investors expected to stay largely on the sidelines ahead of Friday's U.S. job report, said Sony Financial Group senior analyst ​Juntaro Morimoto.

Spot gold rose 1.06% to $4,290.26 an ounce, while spot silver gained 0.65% to $62.48 an ounce.

Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama Editing by Shri Navaratnam

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Satoshi Sugiyama

Thomson Reuters

Reports on all things breaking news as well as economic indicators. Previously worked at The Japan Times covering domestic politics and diplomacy. Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications alumnus.

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