Stocks waver, oil near $110 per barrel

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.4% higher

Global stocks wavered on Tuesday, while oil prices were perched near $110 per barrel as the prospect of ​escalation in the war in the Middle East and the looming deadline for a deal to be reached kept nervy investors ‌on the sidelines.

Markets have been rattled since the U.S.-Israel war on Iran broke out at the end of February, with Tehran effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil transit chokepoint that has spurred inflation worries.

That has left markets ​biding time with the U.S. dollar holding onto its gains and oil prices rising.

Brent crude futures gained 0.4% to $110.19 ⁠a barrel.

A record-breaking quarterly profit forecast from chipmaker Samsung Electronics helped lift investor mood a ​bit but markets remained focused on the Iran war.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.4% higher. Nikkei was choppy as it ​erased early gains to trade 0.2% lower.

We are back on a Trump imposed countdown clock and there’s no way to predict with any confidence what will happen, Kyle Rodda, senior markets analyst at Capital.com, said.

The more intrepid traders ​might make a bet one way or the other. Others will look to hedge risk or stay out entirely. But there’s not much market ​participants can really do but wait and see, Rodda said.

Iran said it wanted a lasting end to the war, instead of a temporary ceasefire and rejected pressure to reopen ‌the waterway, ⁠a conduit for about a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supply.

Any follow‑through on threats to target Iran’s power infrastructure would mark a significant escalation, raising the risk of retaliatory action that could further disrupt Gulf energy facilities, said Vasu Menon, ​managing director of investment strategy at ​OCBC in Singapore.

The war has spurred ⁠worries about stagflation – high inflation with weak or slow growth – upending the global rates outlook.

U.S. stock futures slied 0.55%, while European futures pointed to a higher open after being closed for holidays on Friday and Monday.