Stocks in Asia Pacific trade lower amid tensions in the Middle East

Both the Nikkei 225 and Topix slipped 0.13% each in early trade, while South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.23%.

Over in Australia, the ASX 200 traded fractionally lower as the financial subindex dropped 1.12% and bank shares fell.

Investors will be watching out for the release of China’s industrial production data for the month of May, set to be released later at 10:00 a.m. HK/SIN.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 101.94 points to close at 26,106.77. The S&P 500 gained 0.4% to end its trading day stateside at 2,891.64, led by the energy sector, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.6% to close at 7,837.13.

Meanwhile, oil prices spiked after two oil tanker ships off the coast of Iran were attacked on Thursday.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attacks, but they occurred against the backdrop of heightened tension in the Middle East and between the U.S. and Iran. The Iranian leadership has repeatedly threatened to block traffic in the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for U.S. sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Strategists at RBC Capital Markets wrote in a note that the attacks “underscore the severity of the security risks stemming from the Iran crisis and the difficulty of achieving a diplomatic off-ramp as long as the crippling US sanctions remain in place.”

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled $1.14 higher at $52.22, gaining 2.2% on Thursday. Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, rose $1.34, or 2.2%, to $61.31 per barrel. The bounce in prices came following a steep drop seen on Wednesday when crude futures fell 4% on the ongoing demand fears and another big jump in U.S. crude stockpiles.

In the morning of Asian trading hours on Friday, oil prices pared some of the previous day’s gains. The international benchmark Brent crude futurescontract slipped 0.42% to $61.05 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures declined 0.86% to $51.83 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 97.012 after rising from levels around 96.9 yesterday.

The Japanese yen, often viewed as a safe-haven currency, traded at 108.27 after seeing levels below 108.3 in the previous session. The Australian dollarchanged hands at $0.6910, seeing declines for much of the week from earlier levels above $0.700.

— CNBC’s Natasha Turak and Tom DiChristopher contributed to this report.