Asian shares mostly fell on Thursday. South Korea's Kospi dropped 6.6%. The Bank of Korea raised interest rates. It was the first time since 2023. The bank wants to stop high prices from the Iran war. Memory chipmaker SK Hynix fell 11.2%. Samsung Electronics dropped 8.2%.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 2.9%. Japanese chipmaker Kioxia plunged 13.5%. Tokyo Electron lost 5.2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.7%. Alibaba shares helped. They rose 4.4%. China approved Apple Intelligence for use. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.9%.

Oil prices slipped. But they stayed high. Brent crude dropped 0.4% to $84.55 a barrel. It was about $72 in late February. ING strategists said oil gained for a third day. They said there are no signs of U.S.-Iran de-escalation. They noted rising tensions affect vessel flows from the Persian Gulf.

U.S. futures edged higher. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.4%. BlackRock shares gained 6.6%. The company had strong quarterly results. The dollar fell to 162.09 yen.