The US-Iran ceasefire agreement drives Asian stock markets soaring; Japanese and Korean markets rise over 5%

Investing.com- On Wednesday, Asian stocks surged sharply after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week temporary ceasefire, with the Japanese and South Korean markets leading the way.

The strong performance of technology stocks, especially chipmakers, also boosted Asian markets, following Samsung Electronics’ announcement of strong first-quarter earnings guidance.

Late Tuesday evening, U.S. President Donald Trump said that after Pakistan tried to mediate peace, the U.S. would delay its planned attack on Iran by two weeks, and S&P 500 index futures then jumped by more than 2%.

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In addition, Iran said it is willing to end hostilities, and re-opening the Strait of Hormuz is also possible.

South Korea and Japan lead the way, technology stocks soar

South Korea’s KOSPI and Japan’s Nikkei 225 were the best-performing markets in Asia, both rising by more than 5%.

The gains in tech and chip stocks also lifted these two markets. Earlier, memory-chip giant Samsung Electronics (KS:005930) forecast that its first-quarter profit would grow eightfold, driven by a surge in demand for artificial intelligence. Samsung’s shares jumped more than 6%, while peer SK hynix (KS:000660) surged by nearly 11%.

The Japan and South Korea markets also benefited from large-scale bargain-hunting. Earlier, the two markets had lagged their peers throughout most of March. The KOSPI index, in particular, saw key laggard stocks fall by nearly 20% in March.

Iran ceasefire sparks a surge in Asian stocks, oil price plunges

Asian stocks overall rallied sharply, and the China market also posted strong gains. The CSI 300 and the Shanghai Composite rose 2.3% and 1.4%, respectively, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed nearly 3%.

Australia’s ASX 200 jumped 2.5%, and Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.9%. India Nifty 50 index futures surged by more than 3%, as attention centered on a meeting of the Reserve Bank of India later that day.

After the U.S. and Iran signaled their willingness to ceasefire, oil prices fell sharply—Brent crude plunged more than 13% to $94.97 per barrel—which boosted Asian markets.

Trump delayed the planned strikes on Iran by two weeks, and Iran said it would halt its military activities after the U.S. and Israel stopped hostilities. In addition, Pakistani officials said both the U.S. and Iran have agreed to a ceasefire.

Islamabad led the ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran, and on Tuesday proposed hosting face-to-face ceasefire talks later this week.

This article was translated with the assistance of AI. For more information, please see our Terms of Use.