Oil retreat fuels Asia stocks as Iran tensions linger

Asian stock markets extended gains as oil pulled back from earlier spikes amid ongoing Middle East tensions, with Japan’s Nikkei and Korea’s KOSPI leading gains while China and Hong Kong held near flat; investors remained cautious ahead of the US CPI data for signals on Fed policy. Oil had spiked earlier on supply-disruption fears tied to the Strait of Hormuz but retreated after comments suggesting the Iran conflict could end soon, as the IEA floated the largest-ever release of strategic oil reserves to calm markets.