Asia markets to rise in muted session as lots of marketplaces shut for holiday

Aerial check out of the money town of Seoul in South Korea, found at sunset.

Tobiasjo | E+ | Getty Pictures

Shares in Tokyo and Seoul are set to trade bigger on Friday in a muted session as most marketplaces are closed for a holiday in the broader Asia-Pacific area.

The Nikkei futures deal in Chicago was at 27,620 even though its counterpart in Osaka was at 27,556 against the Nikkei 225‘s very last close at 27,472.63. South Korea’s Kospi 200 futures also pointed to a better open.

Australia, Hong Kong, mainland China, Singapore and India are shut.

Supply

World

U.S. issues 30-day sanctions waiver for sale of Iranian oil at sea

March 21, 2026

Ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. Altaf Qadri | AP The Trump administration on Friday issued a 30-day sanctions waiver for the purchase of Iranian oil at sea to ease energy supply pressures since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on […]

World

Super Micro co-founder indicted on Nvidia smuggling charges leaves board

March 20, 2026

Jaque Silva | Nurphoto | Getty Images Super Micro Computer said Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, a co-founder, has resigned from the server maker’s board after he was indicted in the U.S. on allegations of smuggling equipment containing Nvidia artificial intelligence chips into China. A federal court unsealed the indictment on Thursday. While the company wasn’t specified, […]

World

OpenAI’s first crack at online shopping stumbled. It’s preparing for the next wave

March 20, 2026

Inkoly | Istock | Getty Images When OpenAI announced its Instant Checkout feature last fall, retailers sprang into action. Etsy, Walmart and Shopify quickly lined up to let users buy merchants’ products directly within its ChatGPT chatbot. Suddenly, the e-commerce world was fixated on shopping agents, the artificial intelligence tools that can make purchases on […]