investingLive Asia-Pacific market news: Oil steady near highs, gold flat

Middle East news flow was relatively light through the session, though oil prices remained underpinned after Monday's gains, when a US strike on Iranian rocket launchers and a subsequent Iranian retaliation drove crude higher. President Trump has vowed to respond forcefully to Iran's retaliation, and further support came from reports that a Saudi VLCC was halted after being struck by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, extending the pattern of tanker incidents in the waterway.