Digital displays featuring gongs illuminate the Exchange Square Complex, home to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, March 15, 2022.
Paul Yeung | Bloomberg | Getty Images
On Thursday, Asia-Pacific markets experienced a widespread uptick, reflecting overnight advances on Wall Street fueled by growing optimism about a potential U.S.-Iran agreement.
Stocks have seen an upward trend this week, spurred by the prospects of a peace accord between the U.S. and Iran. The S&P 500 has experienced a 3% increase this week, having fully recouped its losses related to the Iran conflict by Monday. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq and Dow have also surged, gaining about 5% and over 1%, respectively.
Market participants are also turning their attention to China’s GDP figures for the first quarter.
In an interview with Fox Business aired on Wednesday, President Donald Trump stated that the conflict with Iran is “very close to over,” asserting once again that Tehran is eager to “make a deal very badly.”
A White House official told CNBC on Tuesday that a second round of negotiations between Washington and Iran is under discussion. According to the official, who asked not to be named to discuss the administration’s plans, said nothing has been officially scheduled yet.
Oil was marginally lower. The West Texas Intermediate slipped 0.11% at $91.19 per barrel as of 9:30 p.m. ET. International benchmark Brent crude declined 0.13% at $94.81 per barrel.
South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1.74% while the small-cap Kosdaq was 1.09% higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.58%, while the Topix gained 1.06%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was flat.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 index was rose 0.3%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.72%.
S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures both traded around the flatline. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 45 points, or 0.1%.
Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 gained 0.80%, ending at 7,022.95. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.59% to 24,016.02, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 72.27 points, or 0.15%, to close at 48,463.72.
Both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closed at records, with the tech-heavy index posting an 11th-day win streak and the broad market benchmark notching its 10th positive session out of 11.
— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Sean Conlon contributed to this report.
