Hong Kong, Apr 1: Asian shares were sharply higher Wednesday after US stocks soared to their best day in almost a year on renewed hopes that the Iran war could soon end.
South Korea’s Kospi recovered its losses from earlier this week, surging 8.1% to 5,461.51, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 4.5% to 53,352.96. A survey by Japan’s central bank released Wednesday showed business sentiment for major Japanese manufacturers improved despite Iran war worries.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 2% to 25,283.12, while the Shanghai Composite index was trading 1.4% higher at 3,946.67.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 2% to 9,650.90.
Taiwan’s Taiex climbed 4.4%, and India’s Sensex rose 2.2%.
US futures were higher.
The renewed optimism over a possible de-escalation of the Iran war, which is in its fifth week, came after US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the United States will be done attacking Iran probably in two to three weeks, and that the US “will not have anything to do with” what happens next in the Strait of Hormuz.
The White House said Trump will deliver a public address Wednesday evening on the Iran war.
Trump’s remarks came after he told US allies to “go get your own oil” and blamed them for refusing to be more involved in its war effort. Significant maritime traffic disruption at the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly a fifth of the world’s oil typically passes through, has sent energy prices surging and is fuelling global inflation.
Oil prices are back to rising after an earlier dip. Brent crude, the international standard, was up 0.7% at $104.66 early Wednesday. Benchmark US crude rose 1.2% to $102.57.
As the Iran war rattles global energy markets, on Tuesday, US gas prices surged past an average of $4 a gallon, the first time since 2022.
“De-escalation hopes have given markets a lift, but we think the effects of the war would, in many cases, persist even if the war did end soon,” wrote Thomas Mathews, head of markets, Asia Pacific at Capital Economics in a research note Wednesday.
“It’s worth thinking through how markets might fare if the war were to end very soon,’” he wrote. “Do markets have further to recover if sentiment continues to improve? The answer is almost certainly yes.”
Wall Street advanced on Tuesday. The S&P 500 jumped 2.9% for its largest gain since May to 6,528.52. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 2.5% to 46,341.51, and the Nasdaq composite leaped 3.8% to 21,590.63.
Shares of US semiconductor company Marvell Technology spiked 12.8%, after Nvidia said it was investing $2 billion in the company. Nvidia jumped 5.6%.
Centessa Pharmaceuticals leaped 44%, following US drugmaker Eli Lilly’s announcement that it was acquiring the company that’s developing a new class of medicines that could treat excessive daytime sleepiness.
McCormick, the spice and flavourings company, fell 6.1% after confirmation that it was combing with Unilever’s food business.
In other dealings, gold prices rose 0.6% to $4,704.40 per ounce. The US dollar was trading at 158.89 Japanese yen, up from 158.72 yen. The euro was at $1.1566, up from $1.1553. (AP)
