Asia-Pacific markets traded higher on Thursday, following gains on Wall Street, as rising hopes that the conflict in the Middle East could end soon cooled oil prices.
US President Donald Trump said Washington was in the “final stages” of negotiations with Iran, according to a joint agency report, helping boost investor optimism.
Oil prices have soared as the Trump administration blockades Iranian ports while Tehran effectively closes the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy waterways.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 3.52% higher after the release of the country’s latest trade data.
Exports rose at their fastest pace since January, rising 14.8% in April, beating expectations thanks to a surge in semiconductor shipments. Imports rose 9.7% from a year earlier, higher than the expected 8.3% increase, according to government data. The country’s trade balance narrowed to 301.9 billion yen in April, from 643 billion yen in March.
Meanwhile, SoftBank Group rose nearly 20% amid signs of strong momentum in artificial intelligence after Nvidia
posted great earnings overnight.
South Korea’s Kospi continued early gains to rise 7.68%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was higher by 5.02%. Samsung Electronics, a major stock, added more than 6% after a strike involving more than 47,000 of its workers was averted following progress in wage talks. Another large share on the stock exchange, SK Hynix, gained 11%, reports SEEbiz.
Daniel Yoo, global strategist and head of global investment at Yuanta Securities (Korea), told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” that he expects the Kospi to reach 10,000 by the end of the year.
South Korea will start 24-hour spot trading in dollars on July 6, the finance ministry said on Thursday, as part of ongoing capital market reforms aimed at boosting economic growth.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.69%.
China’s CSI 300 rose 0.56%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gave up early gains to trade flat.
India’s Nifty 50 rose 0.42%, while the BSE Sensex gained 0.50%.
