Reuters Published April 7, 2026 Updated about 5 hours ago BENGALURU: Emerging Asian stock markets were mixed in thin holiday trading on Monday as investors digested a wave of conflicting headlines around the war in the Middle East that has clouded inflation and economic outlooks. The MSCI gauge of EM Asia equities edged higher, largely driven by a gain of more than 1 percent for South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index. Investor sentiment continues to be whipsawed by US President Donald Trump’s threats to rain “hell” on Tehran if it does not make a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz by a Tuesday deadline, even as an Axios report suggested that discussions on terms of a potential 45-day ceasefire were underway. “I would think that after Trump’s weekend rhetoric, markets seem reluctant to price much more than cautious hope until there is something concrete,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo in Singapore. “Investors have seen a lot of headline swings in this conflict and this still looks more like a last-ditch diplomatic effort than a deal. It may cap some of the immediate panic, but it is probably not enough on its own to unwind the broader risk premium.” In Indonesia, the Jakarta Composite Index slipped as much as 1.3 percent to its lowest…