Japanese and South Korean stock markets surge, A-shares open higher!

U.S. stocks rebounded overnight, laying the foundation for a recovery in Asian-Pacific market sentiment. On March 10, Japanese and South Korean stock markets performed strongly after opening. As of 9:34 Beijing time, the Nikkei 225 index was up over 3%, the KOSPI was up more than 6%, and KOSPI 200 futures surged over 5% during trading, triggering a circuit breaker and pausing automated trading for 5 minutes.

The A-shares’ three major indices all opened higher, with the Shanghai Composite up 0.05%, the Shenzhen Component up 1.22%, and the ChiNext Index up 2.29%. The communication equipment, internet, and semiconductor sectors led gains, while oil and natural gas, and energy equipment sectors weakened.

Precious metals rose. London gold spot prices and COMEX gold futures both increased, and by 9:28 Beijing time, gold prices had returned above $5,155 per ounce.

However, whether market optimism can be sustained remains uncertain.

According to Xinhua News Agency on March 10, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran responded early this morning to U.S. President Trump’s comments on Iran’s situation, stating that the end of hostilities will be decided by Iran.

A spokesperson for the IRGC said that Trump is attempting to exert psychological pressure on Iran through lies and deception, but Iran is resisting the aggression of the U.S. and Israel with courage and firm will. “The end of the war will be decided by Iran.”

International crude oil futures suffered a sharp decline. As of 9:28 Beijing time, NYMEX WTI crude oil futures and ICE Brent crude futures both plummeted.

According to Xinhua News Agency on March 10, U.S. President Trump stated at a press conference that, due to market turmoil caused by U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, he would lift some oil-related sanctions to stabilize oil prices.

Xinhua cited Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reporting that an IRGC spokesperson said that in the event of an attack on Iran, Iran will not allow “the enemy and its allies” to export oil from the region.

On March 10, Trump threatened that if Iran takes any action to block oil transportation through the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. will respond with “20 times the force” compared to previous actions.

Trump posted on social media that day: “We will destroy those easily destructible targets, leaving Iran as a nation with almost no chance of rebuilding—death, fire, and fury will engulf them—but I still pray this never happens!”

Earlier that day, Trump told a press conference that the conflict with Iran would “end soon,” but “not” within this week.