In Asian trading, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 1.0% to finish at 38,488.34. Shares in Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. jumped 2.3% after it announced that its acquisition of U.S. Steel, which met U.S. government opposition for more than a year, was finally completed.

Asian shares retreated Thursday as worries persisted about conflict in the Middle East. Ratcheting up tensions, President Donald Trump warned of the possibility of getting directly involved in the conflict with Israel,

Asian shares are mixed and oil prices have advanced after the escalation of conflict in the Middle East hit Wall Street

President Donald Trump had cast himself as a man of “peace” and a “dealmaker” intent on stabilizing a febrile region and ending conflicts. But he now appears poised to join one.

White House officials say all options are on the table as President Donald Trump considers whether or not to bring the U.S. military into direct conflict with Iran.

Donald Trump’s military intervention in the Middle East is sign of Israel’s ‘weakness and inability,’ Iran’s supreme leader has said. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged his ‘dear nation’ not to show fear in the face of Israeli attacks and the prospect of America joining the war.