Stocks drop, oil rises as Trump threatens Iran

Most Asia equities fell and oil prices rose on Friday after Donald Trump ratcheted up Middle East tensions by hinting at possible military strikes on Iran if it did not make a "meaningful deal" in nuclear talks.

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The remarks fanned geopolitical concerns and cast a pall over a tentative rebound in markets following an Al-fuelled selloff this month.

Traders are also looking ahead to the release of US data later in the day that will provide a fresh snapshot of the world’s top economy.

A slew of forecast-beating figures over the past few days have lifted optimism about the outlook but tempered expectations for more interest rate cuts.

The US president told the inaugural meeting of the “Board of Peace”, his initiative to secure stability in Gaza, that Tehran should make a deal.

“It's proven to be over the years not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran. We have to make a meaningful deal otherwise bad things happen,” he said, as he deployed warships, fighter jets and other military hardware to the region.

He warned that Washington “may have to take it a step further” without any agreement, adding: “You're going to be finding out over the next probably IO days.”

Hong Kong fell as it reopened from a three-day break, while Tokyo, Sydney, Wellington and Bangkok were also down. However, Seoul continued to rally to a fresh record thanks to more tech buying, with Singapore, Manila and Mumbai also up.

City Index market analyst Matt Simpson said a strike was not certain.