Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday despite renewed hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz, which pushed oil prices sharply higher, intensifying inflation concerns. Traders looking ahead to the developments in the Middle East as the second round of diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran to be held later today. The U.S. President Donald Trump said that a U.S Navy guided missile destroyer had fired on and disabled an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman before Marines boarded and seized the vessel. The seizure is an escalation of the blockade and comes after Iran fired upon commercial vessels attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz earlier Sunday. Besides, China kept its benchmark one-year loan prime rate (LPR), a market-based lending rate, unchanged from the previous month at 3 percent. This is 11th straight month, when China kept rate unchanged amid escalating Middle East tensions.