Asia markets set to open higher as hopes for a U.S.-Iran deal rise and oil prices drop

Asia-Pacific markets were set to open higher Wednesday, tracking overnight gains in U.S. stocks, as oil prices fell amid rising hopes of a diplomatic solution to the Middle East conflict. A White House official told CNBC on Tuesday that a second round of negotiations between Washington and Tehran was under discussion. Nothing has been officially scheduled yet, the official said, who asked not to be named to discuss the administration's internal plans. "We've been called by the other side," President Donald Trump said Monday. "They'd like to make a deal very badly, he added. The West Texas Intermediate was down 2.39% at $88.94 per barrel as of 7:40 p.m. ET. Brent crude fell over 4% to settle at $94.79 per barrel on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 was poised to gain, with the Chicago contract at 58,775 and its Osaka counterpart last trading at 58,780, compared to the index's previous close of 57,877.39. Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 26,145, compared with the index's last close of 25,872.32. In Australia, S&P/ASX 200 's futures last traded at 9,038, while the index closed at 8,970.80. Futures tied to the broad market index and Nasdaq 100 futures were last trading marginally lower. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell by 17 points, or less than 0.1%. Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 1.18%. The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.96%, while the blue-chip Dow advanced 317.74 points, or 0.66%. The S&P 500 is nearing its all-time high of 7,002.28, reached on Jan. 28. — CNBC's Lisa Kailai Han and Jeff Cox contributed to this report. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news. Subscribe to CNBC PRO Subscribe to Investing Club Licensing & Reprints CNBC Councils Select Personal Finance Join the CNBC Panel Closed Captioning Digital Products News Releases Internships Corrections About CNBC Site Map Podcasts Careers Help Contact News Tips Got a confidential news tip? We want to hear from you. Get ...